Lucy
by x404notfoundx
Summary: Lucy 'Quinn' Fabray gives you an unforgettable and highly addicting look inside the mind of the world's most sympathetic psychopath. Glee/Dexter AU.
1. Now and Then

Not sure why I started it but I saw some serial killer Quinn stuff and thought it was a cool idea. Let me know what you think. You can find the theme music on youtube under 'The constancy part 2'.

*Theme music - The Constancy Part 2*

Intro:

Quinn walks from her apartment as if it was an ordinary day. She waves to her neighbor and continues down the steps of her apartment, her movements sliding into slow motion.

As she hits the streets a blood drop falls from the sky and plants itself firmly beside her on the pavement. She continues to walk as more of the viscous liquid pours from the sky. She causally bats some off of her brow as the city goers around her shield themselves from the rain. One man stalks past her, a newspaper over his head protecting him from the bloody downpour. As he passes Quinn she watches him walk away and then notices two children splashing about in the blood as if they were frolicking in normal rain water.

She looks to her right and a dog is briskly shaking off the blood, its velvet drops cascading in sprinkles off his coat.

No one seems to notice the red colored droplets but Quinn. She walks down the street a bit and extends a hand, letting the blood pool and drop from in between her fingertips. Others continue by her, finishing their daily routine but Quinn watches the blood collect in her palm then looks up, a satisfied grin sitting securely on her face.*

_-Lucy-_

She had been stalking him for weeks. She had watched him live his day to day life, each morning another layer of soil on his disgusting truth. She clenched the steering wheel tightly as she pulled up a few blocks away from a house. The lights were on and flush faced children and parents loitered in the front in sheer merriment. She watched him bend to kiss one of his children.

The son of a bitch had children.

She cocked her head curiously to the side as he picked up the smallest of his children, tossing her slightly into the air, she watched the child's face twist with glee. If only she knew who the real man was behind those kisses and bed time stories and promises of battling every monster that dare exit her closet. He could vow until his face turned blue, but he'd never tell her she lived with one, was raised by one…that he was the true creature lurking under bedsides. Come to think of it, he wouldn't be telling anyone.

They took separate cars.

Tonight was the night.

She watched him ruffle his boy's hair and kiss his wife goodnight. Where was the good doctor leaving off too so early? He left his wife and children behind to do what, go home and rest from a hard day's work of saving the world. Perhaps. Perhaps, he was one of the reasons why the world had gone to hell in a hand basket. People…things like him, dredged in shadows, stalking and pouncing when the time was just right.

Like her.

She watched him double back to talk again. It was now or never.

_-Lucy-_

David Barnes considered himself a family man. He couldn't help but stop and catch one final kiss his wife blew from her hand. He had had a few drinks that night but it wouldn't cause him much worry. What he had planned to do tonight tended to have a sobering effect on him. He was playing it cool like he couldn't begin to cut away from the party but inside he was anxious. He was like a smoker on an overseas flight, nerves grinding down raw and damn near willing to jump straight out of the plane for just one hit of nicotine. He kept telling himself this was the last one, the last child he'd harm. He had even gone a month without killing; he had even gone to church.

He rocked behind the steering wheel. Maybe it was something in his gut, maybe it was the ambrosia salad one of his son's friends mother makes, but something felt wrong. The air felt thicker, he felt like something was about to happen and was about to reach for the door handle to exit but soon changed his mind. He had to do this tonight, he wouldn't get another opportunity this perfect in a long time and he had to get this….this…whatever it was out of his system.

He started the car and placed his foot on the brake, when he felt something sharp sting his neck. He yelped and automatically reached for his it, clawing at the cord he found biting into his throat.

"What-what do you want?" David gasped his Adams apple darting in and out of bondage from the ever tightening cord latched around his neck.

"You're causing a scene David." Quinn spoke rationally and calmly into his ear, still keeping her leverage around his throat and remaining out of sight.

"What-what."

"Smile David."

"How-how-how do you know my name?"

"We'll have plenty of time to exchange pleasantries David; right now I need you to smile."

He clutched at his throat his wild and terrified eyes landing on his wife. She looked confused and he tried to signal with his eyes that something was wrong.

"Smile." Quinn said as she tightened the cord around his neck and felt the last of his oxygen supply rip itself from his throat with a gargle.

Despite the noose forming around his jugular he managed a smile and a wave and watched as his wife shooed him away from the party. She didn't notice the look of pure peril in his eyes.

Quinn shifted up and slightly loosened her hold on him.

"Drive."

David pulled off and thought back to what he learned from the television shows. Most criminals wanted to remain in charge, check, the cord around his neck let him know this person already felt secure in that. Bargaining, that's what he'd have to try.

"Money?"

Quinn remained silent her jaw tight and her eyes and hands never losing focus on the task. This man was meant for murder, she could probably carry a conversation better with his corpse anyways. She kind of preferred talking to the dead, they were good listeners.

"I've got, I've got plenty. I can give you anything you want…"

David's bargaining chip was removed from the table with one quick tug on the wire snagged around his throat.

"I don't want your money David. Make a right." She said coolly. They were getting closer. She had put a lot of time into this one; he had to be just right.

"Where are you taking me?" David said tears breaking his voice. "Please, I'll do anything."

"Anything?" Quinn said in amusement.

"A-an-anything!"

"Good David. Very good." She loosened the cord. She felt his thick shoulders slacken. She noticed his sharp intake of breath and his posture relax. He felt safe. Good. She needed him relaxed for what was to come. "Stop here."

David pulled into the dark industrial area and placed his car in park. He killed the lights, blanketing them in the darkness.

Quinn removed the cord from his throat slowly and he nearly fell over himself. He thanked her and God and even baby Jesus.

"Don't move David."

"Aren't you letting me go…" His lip trembled as the panic set back in. "…please…please."

She slowly stood from the back seat walking around the passenger door of the car. His tears didn't affect her, the same stoic look on her face never shifted.

"Maam', have a heart….I've got kids…"

That son of a bitch. Did he really try to use his children as a defense? He was foolish and thought since she was a woman he could play her emotions against her. Quinn had never cried in her entire life. Not one single tear. She didn't even cry when her mother died, or her father. Things lived, and things died. The end.

"I can be better…I can…"

She had heard enough. A grown man sniveling and crying for his life, let alone any person was pathetic. Why keep the life. The life we humans take for granted every day. We poison it with unhealthy foods, alcohol, cigarettes and everything else under the sun but when someone puts a gun to our heads it's time for epiphanies. Only when death is imminent do we humans begin to care, when the sad truth is we kill ourselves just a little bit more every day. If you asked her she'd prefer quickly and clean over any of it any day.

She cut off his latest plea with a swift prick of a syringe in his shoulder. He tried to grip her hand but was out in mere seconds. She held the needle up and then looked back down at her victim. M99, Etorphine Hydrochloride, whatever you wanted to call it, worked very quickly and very well. The right dosage could lay a 500 pound male on his backside before he could bat an eyelash. It came in handy and played in nicely into her whole setup. She needed time after all, to prepare these things. Years of practice and near meticulous behaviors made her ritual both foolproof and satisfying.

She removed the all black Isotoner gloves from her back pocket and placed them on each hand, flexing them slightly. She paused to admire the fact that she had been using the same pair for years and still didn't need a replacement. And they say Americans can't make products that last. She pushed the sleeves of her black Henley shirt up to her elbows and smoothed out her shortly cropped blonde ponytail. Her fitted dark green cargo pants and all black casual tennis shoe added another layer of stealth to her night time occupation.

Using the same chord she captured him with earlier, she hooked it around his neck and began to drag his lifeless body towards the abandoned building they had driven too. She tugged a few times but soon his limber body matched her backwards momentum. She paused a moment more and surveyed the night.

It was time.

The last part of David this world would see was his shiny penny loafers banking off the door as it shut him inside the abandoned building, forever.

_-Lucy-_

Snap.

David took in a ragged breath. They always reminded her of the beginning of Herman the Munster's laugh. Quinn removed the Ammonia capsule from under his nose and watched his blurry eyes come into view. It was only a moment before his tears began to flow.

She watched him struggle for a moment. He stretched and bent the saran wrap around him all the while pleading for release. Her expression never changed as she walked over to a wall and flicked a switch. A grainy hue filled the room as three bodies came into focus. They were all male, cleaned but badly decomposing and bruised. The sight of this would stir some to vomit. To put it lightly, she didn't have a weak stomach. You couldn't for her line of work.

She walked over to the bodies and watched as the crying man's eyes shifted into disbelief.

"The third one was sloppy." She said readjusting one of the limbs. "It was hard to put him back together…you had fun with him…" Her killer hazel eyes fixed on his and caused him to look away.

"What is this…what is this…"

"You know what this is David. These are your victims."

"I am a good man…"

"Bullshit." She spat. It was getting harder and harder not to plunge one of the perfectly sharpened knives on the tray beside him into his heart. She remembered her lessons. Discipline…discipline, discipline. "They were so young…tell me…did you violate them before or after you killed them?"

"I never killed anyone!"

"A trusted physician, a loving father and…murderer. Did you think of your children when you hacked them to bits? Did you think of their families loss when you took them over and over and over again, for your own satisfaction?"

"I never meant to hurt anyone…" His outrage had downturned into regret.

It was far too late for that shit.

"David…" She said as she spread her arms in front of the bodies. "…these are your crimes. What do you think a fitting punishment should be for a man who would use his stature, use his title and use his standing in a community to commit such vile and heinous acts?"

"It was a-a mistake…it just happened."

"Murder doesn't just happen. Every murder is calculated…whether it be planned for 2 months, 2 hours or 2 minutes…every murder is premeditated. Did you stalk them David? Did it get you off to watch the life leave their eyes? It was the kill wasn't it?"

He had given up on pleading and instead chose to remain silent, his jaw tight. He had surrendered. David knew he wasn't leaving this room alive tonight. His acceptance would soon change once he found out what she had in store.

"It was the big, fat kill. And to prove you're even less of a man than I know you to be, you had to act on weaker prey. See me…I kill them all. All shapes, all sizes, all races…I kill David."

She turned back to the bodies. "You butcher. I'm disappointed in a way…murder should never be taken lightly. Murder should be…" She ran hand over one of the body's faces. "…delicate." She finished finding his eyes again. "You don't like that do you…being called a murderer? Well that what you are David. You're a murderer and looking at this job…you give murderers a bad name."

She was winding down; it was time to get to the best part. She walked back over to the wall and hit another switch. The lighting in the room grew and David's eyes shifted wildly as he noticed the entire room was covered from ground to ceiling in rubber sheets and paint liners. Quinn placed on an apron and removed her black gloves, donning latex ones in their stead. She put the last one on with a snap and the man stiffened on the table before her.

She took a scalpel and ran it along his cheek, digging a little deeper because she hated sloppy killers…and perverts. He screamed in agony as she finished the slice, collecting a few droplets in between a microscope slide. She smashed the slide closed and watched as his blood spread for her. She held it up to the light marveling as his life force glistened in the harsh beams. She placed the slide to the side and put on a welders hat, sliding the mask down over her face.

"You think this makes you better than me! Huh?"

She liked it better when he was silent or screaming. His voice now sounded like a vain attempt at self glorification. She was in no mood to be preached to.

"You're just like me! Hiding behind all this." He tried to gesture but the restraints kept it from fully forming. "Who are you to judge me? Who are you to take my life for theirs?"

Quinn almost managed a smirk when she reached for her hunting knife. It was her favorite, a gut hook that could split a hair and cause some major internal damage. She wanted him to bleed slow and witness what other vile things she had in store. Witness the carnage, feel the fear those young men had felt. Then she could watch the blood flow, slowly and even.

"You're no better than me damnit! You're no better than me you self righteous bitch!"

Shame. These should not be someone's last words. If only his family could be here, she could only imagine the words etched out on his head stone. Here lies David; he died at the hands of a self righteous bitch.

"You're right David…" She said her steely eyes shimmering from the small window of the welders mask. She raised the knife above his stomach and paused. "...I'm not." She plunged the knife into his stomach, grinding down deeper and then jerking back so the knife could snag whatever meat lay inside him.

His scream shattered the silence in between the first cut and her head lulled at the sound. He continued to scream as she picked up a small hatchet and walked down the length of the table until she got near his crotch. She slowly sliced the saran wrap just enough to expose his member. He cried for her to stop but it was too late, she had already half way severed his penis, balls and all. Instead of finishing off the cut, she tore the member the rest of the way from his body and stepped back. His cries were weaker now, his voice caught in the flow of blood from his mouth. His crotched pooled with blood but he was still alive.

Good.

After carelessly tossing his member to the covered floor she walked back over to the knife pulling it unmercifully from his stomach, his gore still attached to the hook.

And how the blood flowed.

She stepped back and watched his body convulse, watched him kick and sputter blood. The way his body creaked, the tiny droplets of blood that leapt from his body. It was like a fireworks display, only there was not gleaming of sparks in her eyes, only the reflection of blood. It was beautiful.

She walked near his head and removed the mask and casually watched as his eyes went lazy, then slack, then they edged over into death.

_-Lucy-_

Clean up was easy to her. She has cut off his arms, legs and severed his torso. After clearing away all the wrappings in the room and stuffing them into neatly packed garbage bags she took a moment to survey the scene, not a drop in sight, she had truly mastered her craft. She loaded up the hefty bags into her truck and headed for disposal all the while humming that clean up song from Barney. Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share. Crazy right? She couldn't help it, her best friend Brittany had made her recite it religiously when they were school girls. So it always drifted into her mind when she had to dispose of her latest victim.

After hauling every bit of the scene into her truck she headed towards the Miami docks. There her boat was waiting for her. It was a gift from her father and if he were alive he'd approve of the use of it. She stood in front of the 284 mako her hand on her hips. She took a moment to read the side of the boat. Ann Teak. Her dad said it was punny. She thought it was a sturdy name; she felt like the name itself would make it grow old with her. Minus a few hundred dollars for upkeep and mechanics, it had.

She hoisted several bags on to the boat and then climbed on board herself, starting her up and jetting off into the night. It was still refreshing to her, the smell of the water, wind whipping her face. It was always quiet this time of night so it was her, the boat engine and the slight fluttering of hefty bags against the wind.

She drove a huge distance in and began to drop the body bags, one by one. The current would take them once again leaving the victims untraceable. No links, no ties, no mistakes. Her motto. She was a very neat monster after all. She always kept in mind that no one was perfect, everyone made mistakes and it was in her best interest to make as little as possible, or else she'd be up river and not in a body bag.

After dumping the last body, sealing David's and his victim's fate forever, she glided off into the night. His family would mourn him, for all the wrong reasons. They'd miss the father, the husband and the caregiver, the world however; would miss a cruel and evil killer. She could sleep knowing that. He was a killer make no mistake about it. She was always careful with her research. No false convictions, no lazy truths. One false move and she'd kill a innocent. She'd would never kill an innocent, never. It was part of the code.


	2. We've only just begun

Glad you all enjoyed, so I continued it. Thanks for the reviews. The Intro and Outro can be found on youtube under their respective names, as well as the song 'Puttin on the Ritz by Taco. I tried a different writing style here; let me know what you think. Enjoy.

* Intro - Theme music - The Constancy Part 2*

Quinn walks from her apartment as if it was an ordinary day. She waves to her neighbor and continues down the steps of her apartment, her movements sliding into slow motion.

As she hits the streets a blood drop falls from the sky and plants itself firmly beside her on the pavement. She continues to walk as more of the viscous liquid pours from the sky. She causally bats some off of her brow as the city goers around her shield themselves from the rain. One man stalks past her, a newspaper over his head protecting him from the bloody downpour. As he passes Quinn she watches him walk away and then notices two children splashing about in the blood as if they were frolicking in normal rain water.

She looks to her right and a dog is briskly shaking off the blood, its velvet drops cascading in sprinkles off his coat.

No one seems to notice the red colored droplets but Quinn. She walks down the street a bit and extends a hand, letting the blood pool and drop from in between her fingertips. Others continue by her, finishing their daily routine but Quinn watches the blood collect in her palm then looks up, a satisfied grin sitting securely on her face.*

1 - 'We've only just begun'

**My name is Lucy 'Quinn' Fabray. There are only three people who knew me as Lucy, two of them are dead. I know what you're thinking…I didn't kill them. Scouts honor.**

Quinn prepared herself for the day. She showered, flossed and dried stopping to meticulously groom her short nails. Her father always told her to keep her nails clean, actually he told her to do a lot of things, but this stuck. After grooming, she grabbed a fresh apple off of her apartment counter top and took a huge bite. The juices from the fruit oozed down her fingertips and dripped to her wrist. She caught the trail with her tongue and her eyes caught her air conditioning unit. She wasn't in any immediate rush and she hadn't had the chance to inspect the slide from her latest kill.

She walked over to the unit and took off the cover, placing it to the side and removed one of the cooling cages to reveal a small, long wooden box. She tucked her bottom lip into her mouth and reached in, gently pulling them out.

**Careful Lucy. This is your life's work.**

She couldn't recall the last time she was called by that name. It had to be years. Everyone called her Quinn now. She was Quinn when she smiled at her co-workers and attended office parties but Lucy; Lucy only came out at night. She didn't come to play either, she came to fucking kill. She didn't have split personalities, she just simply knew who to be when it was necessary.

Quinn ran her fingers along the wood grain taking in the feel of the box itself. She closed her eyes and felt around the box until her fingers found its opening slot. She took in a sharp breath as she lifted the lid. As the lid rose, her eyes slowly opened. They fell on the blood slides and quickly scanned over the amount. They were growing. She gently removed David's and held it up with her index and thumb of either hand.

**It was gorgeous. If I close my eyes I can still see the perfect little show David put on in passing. The smell of copper still spins around my nostrils and I tremble when I remember the feeling of his warm blood on my finger tips. Blood. It made the hair on the back of my neck rise.**

Quinn slid the blood back into the box and slammed it shut, her hand still resting on top of the wooden rectangle. She'd stand here all day looking at them if she didn't back away. She'd do something stupid and rush a kill just so she could get that feeling again. After she took a deep breath, she placed the box into its hiding place and closed up her air conditioning unit. She took a moment to think back on the roots of this little obsession of hers.

"_Lucy."_

_She tensed when she saw him approaching. Her adoptive father, Russell Fabray, was a tall and broad man. His shortly cut; almost dapper hair was wiry with grey strands. He usually smiled when he saw her playing, that day when he approached he looked sallow and serious. He stopped in front of her and stooped to her level. _

_He caught her eyes and she tried to look away, instead he gently cupped her chin and brought her face back in his direction._

"_We need to talk honey."_

_She found a blade of grass to rip from the ground and twist and turn between her fingers. Even as a child it angered her that he chose her spot to confront her. This tiny little piece of quiet was all hers. She grew up with an open ended back yard that spilled into a field. She had a half rotten log sitting as far back as her father would allow it, where she would sit and read or think. She had over heard her adoptive mother say 'a child should not be alone so much'. She'd regret finding solace in her personal spots after her mother soon shoved her into interactions with other children._

"_The neighbors said the last time they saw their cat, you were playing with him." His footing shifted in the earth beneath him. He took a moment to shield his eyes from the sun and wait for her reaction. "I found where you put the body."_

_Quinn's eye shot up into his in disbelief. She was so careful._

"_Why'd you do it Lucy?"_

_She shrugged, flicking the blade of grass out of her hand._

_Russell ran hand through his hair and sighed. _

"_Sweetheart…there were too many bones for it to be just one animal."_

_-Lucy-_

Quinn adjusted her darkly tinted aviator shades in the rear view mirror of her car. Her badge hung from the mirror and sent sparks of light spinning every time it hit the sun. She turned off to exit quickly popping a CD in when another 'new age' hit tried to crawl past her speakers and into her ear drums. She hated music these days.

She tapped her finger in time when the CD decided to spin and play back her favorite 80's music. Was it strange that she stalked people to Air Supply, Kool and the Gang and Styx? Killing people didn't mean you couldn't have good taste in music. She drove onwards, taking in the city as she headed to the station.

**Miami. The magic city. Most people thought that was some nick name given because it was a delightful place. The real reason why people called it the magic city was because over night the population fluxed so dramatically. I don't mind the population that just makes what I do easier. It didn't hurt that Miami had a high crime rate. I fit right in. Bodies were found everywhere, in the sewers; on the sidewalks…mine never get found. And that's what put me ahead of the others. I have standards. I don't want my kills in some glazed over Hollywood talkie. My kills were my kills and I'm not much for sharing.**

Her phone rang, breaking her pattern of thought.

"Quinn!"

**It was Brittany S. Pierce. Bubbly blonde, police officer and the last person alive who knew me by Lucy. I had trained my friend a long time ago to forget that name; I even went as far as legally changing it per my father's request. **

"First on the scene." Brittany said excitedly.

"What scene?" Quinn said her voice still unenthusiastic.

"He struck again."

"Who?"

"The same guy, media's trying to swarm us. I was one of the first cops to find the body. Secured the scene, held back the bystanders. Lieutenant Lopez can't look over the fact that I did all that nearly by myself, right?"

**I always had a fondness for Brittany's determination. She was a cop looking to make homicide. So much so that she followed cases she didn't have to, worked extra hours she wasn't paid for and most of all showed more interest in the job then people who had made it. Brittany had done it all. She'd gone undercover as a stripper, a hooker, even a night school janitor to bring those who had committed crimes to justice. Lieutenant Lopez never batted an eyelash. She always told me Lopez had something against her. I think she's just a bitch.**

"Where are you Brittany?"

"At the crime scene Quinn, where else would I be?" Brittany said.

**My acquaintance wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but she was a good cop. She had a big heart and still had what the other worn down cops had lost years ago after witnessing and uncovering death for so many years; she still had spirit, youth and optimism. **

"Where's the crime scene Brittany?" Quinn questioned her frustration never rising. She had grown used to Brittany's sometimes subtle slips into blondeness.

"Miami Motel, they really stretched with that name huh' Q?" Brittany's voice shifted into gloom. "It's one of the girls I used to work with for the job. It isn't pretty Quinn; this guy is one sick fuck."

**All these years and she's still trying to protect me. It's cute.**

"I'll be fine I promise. I'm turning off in a moment; I'll meet up with you in the front okay."

"K."

Soon after Quinn ended the phone call with Brittany she parked along the curb of Miami Motel. The dirt, faded sign out front said 'Sleep forever.

**The irony. **

The motel looked filthy and was horribly built to resemble a 50's archetype structure. She spotted the owner who judging by the burning cigar on his lip and grimace on his face; was no stranger to terrible thing. It looked like the type of place that served fruits and donuts in the morning and picked through the left over's to serve again. All those things aside, it was still considered 'high-end' in this particular area.

She exited the vehicle and walked up to her friend the tall, leggy, beautiful blonde trying her best tough look to keep the crowd in check. Brittany was gorgeous. She was the type of girl you saw walking down the street and had to know if you were a normal, red blooded human being. She had this quality about her that made people fall in love. It didn't hurt that she had legs for days and an ass that could kill. She looked like a teenager impersonating an officer but she was around Quinn's age. They were both in their upper 20's, but Quinn had always had a more mature look. Brittany's tiny rash of freckles on her nose didn't help either.

"Officer Pierce." She said mocking her with a miserable salute.

"Asshole." Brittany said taking her arm, guiding her a small distance from the crowd.

"Do you see all of this, I set this up. Can you believe her? She didn't even say good job."

"Brittany I've told you a thousand times you don't need validation from Lieutenant Lopez. If you know you're doing a good job, keep doing what you're doing."

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Easy for you to say, Lopez actually listens to you." Brittany scooted a few rocks under her perfectly shined shoes. "I just…I really thought I was doing something huge ya' know. Not everybody has to have a stupid detectives badges to make a difference on a crime scene."

"What you mean like this one?" Quinn said flashing her forensics bag at Brittany; which earned her a playful punch to the shoulder.

"You're not even a detective."

"Don't want to. Sounds boring?" Quinn said scanning the sea of growing spectators.

"Says the woman who has to talk about the same thing every fucking day?" Brittany said a grin tugging at her lips.

"Yes, she says to the officer that isn't allowed inside the perimeter she created."

Brittany rolled her eyes and shifted to look in Lieutenant Lopez's direction.

"I fucking hate her."

"Hate is such a strong word Brittany." Quinn said shifting as well to take in the Latina. "Try strongly dislike."

"Sure. I strongly dislike that fucking bitch." Brittany mimicked the Lieutenants pose then scoffed "She's so fucking smug, she wouldn't be getting half the shine she's getting now if Sue wasn't such a bitch."

**Brittany had some truth to her statement. Sue and Lopez had been partners before the Lieutenant made it up the ranks. People thought for sure with Sue's tenure she'd be a shoe in, then again, they didn't take into account that Sue was off her fucking rocker. And that's coming from me.**

"Well think of it this way, better her than Sue right?"

"I guess."

"And you call me a debbie downer, where's your optimism today."

"I'll tell you what to do with your optimism…" Brittany muttered.

"You can learn a thing or two from her Brittany. She didn't slide up in ranks making friends and she damn sure didn't do it pouting like a school girl. Politics Brittany. You've got to get in the zone or you'll be standing right out here for years to come."

"I know…" Her baby blues jumped into hazel. "Check it out for me will ya'."

"It's my job…"

"No I mean you know how you go all Nancy Drew sometimes. Just hang back on it and kick it out to me, that way I'll have some kind of lead to offer in briefing."

"Isn't that illegal?" Quinn said turning to her friend.

"Politics aren't always legal, are they?"

Quinn managed a smirk. "I see what you just did there."

"So, you'll do me a solid besty?"

"Sure…" Brittany nearly hugged her but Quinn held up a single finger. "…if you do one thing for me."

"Name it!"

"You know that hooker sting you worked a few months back…and that outfit you had to wear…" Another playful jab was sent in her direction.

"Just tell me what you think Q."

**I don't know what love is. I'm not all that sure I'm capable of feeling it, let alone reciprocating it. Love was always a foreign thing to me. I never loved my pets…and most of them I tested that all dogs go to heaven theory on. Nothing against animals, just an eagerness to kill with no additional thought. I'll probably spend the rest of my life never knowing it. If the closest I'd ever get to love was Brittany, then that was alright by me. Besides, everyone suspects the loner. I had to submerge myself and what normal person didn't have a BFF. After my mother forced me to hang out with other children I had kind of stumbled into Brittany and well, it was difficult to escape her. **

She thought back on the first day they met.

"_Whatcha' doing?" A wiry, awkwardly tall blonde asked standing over a heavyset brunette with way too many teeth._

"_I'm reading. Go away."_

"_Whatcha' reading?"_

"_Oedipus."_

"_What's that about?" The taller girl sat beside her and folded her long legs underneath her, settling in._

_Quinn shifted away and hugged her book to her chest. "You wouldn't like it…let alone understand it."_

"_Yes I would!"_

"_No! You wouldn't!"_

"_Would!"_

"_Wouldn't!"_

"_Tell me what it's about."_

"_No! Go play with the other kids okay…I'm not like you…I don't like you and I never will."_

"_Well that's fine but I still want to know." The blonde hunched forward. "So tell me."_

_A few students wandered over to them on the playground and stood looking down on them. All Quinn could remember were there shadowed faces as their figures blocked out the sun. The bigger boy out front slapped the book out of her hand before she could react. Her fist immediately clenched, the killer inside dying to rip from her depths and surface, even in her youth._

"_My mom says you're a freak show!"_

_Quinn paused. She had no one to defend her and she was pretty sure despite her anger, she would get pummeled by this group of kids. _

"_Freak show! Freak show!" They chanted and Quinn had had enough._

"_Well guess what my mom told me about your mom." The chant stopped as the boy edged closer to her. "She said your mother is a bitch!"_

_The group fell on Quinn and in the mess of limbs and scratches she felt two fists working in tandem with her own. They still got their asses kicked. _

_A few parents broke up the brawl and of course Brittany and Quinn were blamed and had to sit, watching the other kids play as punishment. Quinn looked over to the blonde and questioned her motives. She wanted to ask why but was met with a grin from the slightly battered girl._

"_My name's Brittany."_

_The girl extended a hand and Quinn quickly shook it and ripped hers away. She wasn't as good at faking fondness of human contact as she is now._

"_Lucy…Lucy Fabray."_

_Another warm smile and the blonde looked back towards the other children._

"_The book…" Quinn said shocking herself with the advance in communication. "It's about a man who __fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father, marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family." _

"_Does it have dragons?"_

"_No…" And then suddenly Lucy realized how important it was to lie to connect to other people. "…not yet. I can read it out loud if you want to hear it."_

"_Okay…I like dragons."_

_And so, Quinn began to read her newest and only friend the tale of Oedipus, weaving in her own fabricated tales of dragons. Brittany still thought that that was the real story to this day._

With another half hearted salute she left her friend with the masses. She walked towards the crime scene, eager to see what awaited her. As she made her way to the room where the body was she passed by Lieutenant Lopez who nodded for her to go inside rapidly, all the while giving an interview to the local news. Quinn only heard bits and pieces as she passed her by.

"No, this isn't the work of a serial killer….we haven't had one in Miami for years….no information will be given at this time….we at Miami-Metro will continue to investigate to bring whomever was behind it to justice."

**The Latina was stern but hot damn did she know how to work a camera. She was the picture of professionalism and you can tell by her attitude she knew it. I don't know why the good Lieutenant took a liking to me, but she always came to me for advice, always got my opinion on things. Maybe something deep inside of her was telling her she was getting tips from another killer? Maybe she felt she could trust me, either way I wasn't a huge fan of hers. I respected her, nearly, clean ascension to power. I liked the fact that she took her job seriously, but I could never see us shooting the shit. I rarely did and when I did, it was mostly with the only two people I could tolerate outside of my work.**

_-Lucy-_

A uniform stepped in front of her and held her at arm's length.

"You allowed over here?"

"Forensics." She said as she side stepped his arm flashing him her badge.

The room had to be more horrible than the outside appearance. There were nail holes in the molding, lazy heavy-handed caulking and cheesy garage sale décor. To finish of this feast for the eyes was a sign that read 'Do Not..flush toilet'.

**Lovely.**

"What's up Q?"

His head darted in front of her so quickly she nearly snapped his neck. Not a normal person's reaction to a jolt but she was working on that.

"Jacob, always a pleasure."

**Jacob was a pretty decent guy. He just kind of enjoyed what he did. I couldn't blame him. I just found it a little strange that I could hide it better than him.**

"Another hack job…pity, she had great tits."

**And he also had a way of telling the 'too soon' jokes in everybody's company with no shame.**

"What are you doing here?"

"My job, if you don't mind."

"Yeah only thing is you're not needed this time. We won't need a blood splatter specialist with no blood. "

**I almost said 'what the fuck'.**

Quinn moved past him and it was then she saw the best display of showmanship she had ever seen in her life. The body was hoisted up by thick cords. The limbs were removed then sowed back on and bound at the joints to make it look like an artist's mannequin. It was art. She stepped closer, her mouth nearly hitting the floor as she saw the face was completely smooth, sanded down to perfection. Not a drop of blood, not one single drop. The joints we looked fully pivotal, just like the dolls and she fought the urge to reach out and see if one could bend.

"Told ya', no blood. Where's Brittany?"

"Outside." Quinn said half paying attention to him.

"Wish she was in here live tits are better than dead ones am I right?"

**No blood. No blood. Where was the blood? I feel robbed, cheated.**

Quinn shook her head clearing the fog that began to rise. Noah Puckerman came from the restroom, latex gloves already on.

**Noah was a serious guy. He joked, he laughed but he always focused on the task. He was on that terrifyingly extending list of tolerable people**.

"She had a great ass too."

His comment sent Jacob into hysterical laughter. Noah coughed and snapped right back into zone as Quinn reached for the nearest pair of gloves and placed them on. She could no longer wait for an invitation.

"Not one print. Clean through and through."

"Clean indeed and contained. He's good."

**Really good. Inspiring even.**

"Where the fuck is her face?" Jacob questioned.

"I imagine it's gone the way of the blood." Quinn said glumly. She paused and sniffed the air.

**What was that smell? I couldn't put my finger on it.**

"Look at the cuts. He took his time, but check this out Q. Look at her frame and look at how thick the separated pieces of her body are. Almost like she bloated or something."

Quinn cut Noah off. "I could say it was just natural decomposition but honestly he could have injected her with something, added something." She ran a gloved finger down the side of the victim. "The skin is just too well preserved."

"This is way different then the last two times guys, he's fucking toying with us now. Now he's just stylin' and profilin'."

"Never, ever attempt slang again Jacob." Noah said rising up from his crouched position with a grunt.

**He had a point though. He was toying with them and showing me up. I hate to admit it but the preparation and timing for this kind of kill had to be spot on from start to finish. Every moment I spend in the room I start to admire it even more and I'm pretty sure if I stay around here long enough people might get the idea that I liked it. Because I really did.**

Quinn removed her gloves and tossed them at Jacob walking towards the exit.

"Hey Q, we got work to do here."

"You heard Jacob, no blood…no work."

She exited the room and cut the corner almost away from the scene until she was stopped by Lieutenant Lopez.

"Lieutenant."

"Fabray." She shifted her eyes around the scene and then they fell on Quinn's. "Whaddya' think?"

"I got nothing."

"Don't fuck with me Fabray, what do you think."

"I think you may want to talk to the first reporting officer on scene Lieutenant, I just got here."

"Pierce?" She laughed. "So she can tell me again how she daringly called for backup and threw up some yellow tape. She managed to do all that but she couldn't secure one witness." Santana shook her head. "That girl is cruelly depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."

"Lopez, she's a smart cop. I wished you see her for that and she did do an incredible job by keeping the public out."

"I'm not here to discuss Pierce."

"She grows on you."

"And so does cancer."

On cue Brittany stepped over and took her reign as the official queen of bad timing.

"Lieutenant I think I've got a few leads…"

"Witnesses?" The detective said her interest growing in the discussion.

"No…but…I got a guy who says he know the girl's baby's daddy, who knows her uncle who said…"

"You know what; you're starting to sound like them. Baby's daddy's? You expect me as a Lieutenant to pull my case around a Maury Povich angle? Are you delusional?"

The excitement melted off of Brittany's face rapidly.

**Poor thing.**

"Listen legally blonde, there is a reason why you're on pussy patrol. Let that marionette and get back to me when you've got some decent fucking leads, until then stop wasting my time and do your damn job." Lopez pointed towards the crowd. "Keep them back and keep them quiet."

"But I think…"

"That's an order!"

Brittany turned and went back to the lines. The Latina lingered for a moment.

**I think she just looked at Brittany's ass.**

She soon stalked off without even a goodbye or a keep me posted.

**Maybe my friend's problem with the Lieutenant is that she's rubbing her the wrong way…or it may be because she's not rubbing her at all. **

Quinn shook off the entire ordeal and walked back towards her car, despite the masterpiece she witnessed today; she still had her own work to do.

_-Lucy-_

She sat in her car enjoying some foreign bread with bacon falling out of the side. She had no idea what it was but it tasted good and it was portable. Portability was a very important part of her life. She was constantly on the go and unlike most that were employed with Miami Metro; she always worked the night shift. She watched as a beady eyed male, average height and build exited a very posh apartment building.

**Thomas Blackwell. Once upon a time, was a chauffeur for all the well to do in Miami. One day one of his clients came up missing and he was the first person they probed. They even tried to have him convicted but couldn't gather enough evidence to put him away. That's where I came in. No one found it strange that his fortunes changed dramatically just one year after the disappearance? They had given up but I'm just a little bit more determined than that. Of course they were limited by the law but as a vigilante of sorts, I created my own.**

Thomas continued out of the building and hailed a cab, taking off with a very beautiful woman at his side. The woman he was with was far too attractive to settle for someone like him, but money could make any man more attractive then he seemed. They took off into the city together and Quinn's eyes slanted. Just on the fact alone that he was living the good life by taking someone else's made her want to end him. However, she needed more evidence. She had to be sure

_-Lucy-_

As Quinn walked out of her apartment to go out for the evening she saw a young Latino couple pressed up against a car to the far side of her buildings parking lot. They were all over each other, practically having sex with clothes on.

**Sex always involved a certain level of emotion, whether it be a one night stand or a lasting relationship. Sex to me is for two reasons; ****A) Reproduction, or B) Physical pleasure. Not many of us have sex for the intention of reproduction, so it's a safe bet to claim most of us have sex for the physical gratification. I was just getting to the point where I could properly fake a smile, faking an orgasm was a whole new playing field. Still, I had to remain or appear normal, and normal people had significant others. **

Quinn drove off, headed towards the semi-pleasant suburbs to pick up her date. She finally found the home she had frequented quite a bit and parked along the curb. After adjusting her hair slightly, she exited her vehicle and made her way to the front door. She knocked and waited for a reply. The door swung open and she was met by a shorter woman, with stunning brown eyes and a sincere smile.

**Rachel Berry is the first person I've ever willingly dated. It was easy with her and I had a pretty good idea why. She was just as broken as I was.**

"Quinn, come on in." She giggled. "That rhymed."

Quinn smirked and walked inside her home. It was modest, decorated with dollar store trappings and Wal-Mart specials. Quinn felt somewhat comfortable in it though, it didn't scream this is a place holder. Her home told the story of a woman who found happiness in her position and made the most of what she had.

"Have a seat on the couch; I'll be just a moment." Rachel said and Quinn obeyed her requests sitting down on the couch quietly as she waited for her 'girlfriend' to get ready.

**I want to say we met in a story tale romance but our meeting was way more interesting than that. Brittany had answered a domestic dispute call and met Rachel after beating the holy hell out of her then boyfriend. Rachel had dreams of one day being a star so she ran away with him and somehow ended up in Miami. For two whole years he had raped, beaten and tried to kill her until she finally got away. Then Brittany set us up on a blind date, and we had been dating ever since. Due to Rachel's tumultuous past she wasn't all that fond of physical contact, that was just fine with me. **

"Ready?"

Quinn stood and turned placing her hands into her pocket.

"You look great."

"Stop." Rachel said sheepishly waving a hand at Quinn.

"No really, you look great."

**She did. **

Rachel wore a flirty little blouse that showed a bit of the tan skin she hid everyday when she went to work at the women's shelter. A pair of fitted jeans showcased a perfectly round behind and a cute pair of sandals finished off her casual look.

"It isn't too much is it?"

"Come here." Quinn said beckoning the other woman forward. She started taking pictures of the other woman with an imaginary camera as she walked towards her. Rachel blushed but played along, tossing her dark tresses over her shoulder.

"Ms. Berry, who are you wearing tonight?"

"Oh this old thing. JC Penny's 50% off rack."

Quinn chuckled. "Ms. Berry, are those Vera Wang's on your feet?"

"Better. Payless BOGO." Rachel said with her best diva pose.

"And is it true you'll be accompanied by the lovely and talented Quinn Fabray?"

"Quinn who?"

Quinn feigned hurt feelings and Rachel reached over and took one of her hands, threading it in with hers.

**I didn't even flinch this time. Progress.**

"Come on we'll be late." Rachel said guiding her towards the front door. She let her hand drop to lock the door as Quinn walked ahead unlocked and opened her car door. Rachel walked over and stepped inside smiling.

**I'm not sure why I chose Rachel to try to blend in with. I don't have anything against men or women. I just have issues with the complications that come along with them and my work. I guess I just kind of saw her face and decided I could live with it. I know 'lesbian' doesn't scream subtle but the thought of doing any of this with a man didn't seem appealing. Maybe I am a lesbian? I'll never know, I can't gather enough emotion to feel for anything. Anatomy attached included.**

Quinn shut the door and walked briskly over to the driver's side. She climbed inside and they headed towards their destination. Rachel hummed along to the music as they traveled.

**Rachel** **had never given up on her dream. She accepted the fact that she would never be a huge star but she did star in a couple of off-off-off-off-off-off-off Broadway productions at the local community center. I had to go see everyone. I hated every second of it but once again it made me look like an average human being. Being supportive, being kind all good things to cover up the fact that I was a cold blooded murderer.**

Quinn and Rachel reached their destination and naturally Rachel chose the movie. A horror movie. The Tortured to be exact. After purchasing the tickets they went to buy some refreshments. As they stepped to the counter trouble brewed in the line behind them.

A man shoved another man. "You skipped me asshole."

"I was here first you son of a bitch." He shoved him back.

Quinn quirked a brow.

**How was it that I am considered different? Here were these normal people fighting over a spot in line. Normal people could pass off any social behavior as 'normal' just by stating it. I think normal people could be so…hostile..**

"Hey guys." Rachel said stepping back from the counter. "One of you just go ahead of me, okay."

One of the men grudgingly headed for the counter after flipping the other guy off and ordered.

Rachel looked up at Quinn and smile.

…**but not her.**

Quinn returned it.

After the debacle at the concession stand, Quinn and her date made their way to the theatre and settled in for the movie. A good portion in and Rachel was still munching on her popcorn enthralled with what was going to happen next in the movie.

**I even liked the way she chewed.**

She noticed Quinn looking at her and placed her head on her shoulder, still focused on the movie. Quinn shifted uncomfortably, the dark theatre masking the slight scowl and looked back towards the screen.

**They never did it right in horror movies to me. In this one two parents exacted revenge on a serial killer that got off after killing their son. I could dig it.**

After the movie ended Rachel and Quinn headed back towards her car and her phone went off as she pulled out of the movie theatre parking lot.

"Fabray."

"We got another one." Noah said his voice heavy.

"Where?."

"Right off the corner of southwest 26th street."

**So close! Yes.**

"I'll be there in a moment."

She turned to see Rachel crippled with anxiety. She must have heard where she was trying to head off to.

**In my fascination with the new and profound killer, I had forgotten I had fragile cargo in tow.**

"I can drop you off Rach."

The look on her face was conflicted. She really wanted to take up that offer. "I-I can go."

"I know it may be difficult…"

"I said I can go."

"Okay, I'll only be there for a moment."

"If it's only for a moment fine..."

"Really Rachel it's no trouble at all I can swing back by…"

"Just." The brunette shook her head and looked out the window. "Just drive."

She was uncomfortable but Quinn wouldn't insist. She was still at a point where it was difficult for her to read emotions so she just took her word for it. After a few turns and stoplights they arrived at the scene. The glow of cop lights seemed to shake Rachel and Quinn leaned over and spoke softly.

"Don't look, just stay in the car. I'll be right back."

Rachel nodded and Quinn exited the vehicle walking up to the scene placing her badge around her neck. She passed by a few weirded out cops and Lopez once again throwing off the media with false claims. She couldn't keep the ties with the murders a secret any longer but it looked like she was going to try.

She spotted Noah already stooped over the body.

"Rotten bastard got me in working when I could be out for a drink." He said without turning to Quinn.

"By the feel of this guy he doesn't seem like the type to worry about scheduling."

She found a pair of gloves and stooped beside him. To the naked eye this would be the same M.O. Thickly shaped and oddly contoured body parts with smoothed over faces.

"This is different." Noah said drawing her attention to the right leg.

She leaned over and gently took up the limb. "He didn't put her back together again, well he did but the flesh and meat are completely stripped off the thigh."

"Right, sick bastard." Noah spat.

"Where is her head?" Quinn questioned.

"You tell me. We can't find the damn thing, it's gone."

"What is he trying to tell us?" Quinn questioned careful to remove the wonder from her voice.

"He's probably got mommy issues."

**Noah was a big old softy. Two things disturbed him in life. Women who were hurt and women who were killed. I could see the distress in his eyes. This was too much for him to take in and it looked as if he was beginning to take it personally.**

"No blood." She stated flatly.

"Yep, how did he manage to remove the blood and keep the flesh this neat?"

**I didn't know but I was hell bent on figuring it out. And there was that smell again.**

Quinn stood and snapped off the gloves. "Not sure, I'm thinking since the head is gone he's doing it the old fashioned way."

"That's the first thing I thought." Noah added. "Bleeding them out like pigs."

**Brilliant.**

"I've gotta' run, I'll see you in office. Keep me updated."

"To the very minute." He looked up from the body and grinned. "Saw you pull up, another hot date with the brunette?"

"I suppose so."

"Jesus Quinn if I had a piece of ass waiting on me like that I wouldn't be at a crime scene this long."

**Uh oh. I had to be more enthusiastic about my company.**

"Which is why I'm leaving."

"To be a fly on the wall when you two…"

"I'd swat your ass." Quinn said as she motioned towards the body. "Have fun with your date."

He waved her off and she turned to leave. As she walked back to her car she avoided Lopez, she didn't have time to speak right now. Her mind wondered as she strode.

**I'd trade dates if he wanted. Not that I had any ill will against Rachel, it's just that I'd prefer to stay and analyze every bit of the corpse. Wine and dine her into telling me who her maker was.**

The blonde made it back to her car and drove Rachel home. The pair sat in awkward silence outside of Rachel's home. Rachel still unsettled by the visit to the crime scene, Quinn not sure what to say.

"I had a good time…"

"You should have seen it Rachel…" She paused trying to find the words to convey the sheer perfection of it all. "The time it must have taken to rip the meat perfectly from the bone. The bone. How can someone keep the flesh so intact…."

She couldn't contain herself this time.

"Do you know what's connected there…" She reached over and gripped Rachel's inner right thigh and slid her hand upward near her center. "Do you understand the precision it would take to remove…"

Rachel tensed at the contact. It was too close; it was just too close to her 'private areas'. She couldn't shake the feeling of violation. She quickly and roughly removed her hand from her leg. "It's just too soon Quinn…I-I can't…"

Rachel got out of the car and slammed the door, making it back inside her home without a goodnight.

Quinn watched her and tilted her head in confusion.

**Was it something I said?**

_-Lucy-_

Quinn and Brittany sat outside the Mimi Metro building at a fold away table eating tacos off a food truck. They often frequented the station at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a way to pickup quick bucks with people who literally had to do everything on the move.

"Heard about the other victim they found?"

"Yeah." Quinn said cramming the end of a fish taco into her mouth. "I checked it out last night."

"Oh…wait.." Brittany paused from her meal to look up at Quinn "Weren't you on a date with Rachel?"

Quinn nodded as she dipped her taco into some foreign spicy sauce

"You sick fuck, you took your date to a crime scene?"

"I offered to drop her off, she said it was okay."

"Quinn, Quinn, Quinn." Brittany said as she shook her head. "Women never mean what they say."

"What do you mean?" Quinn questioned wiping stray sauce off her mouth with a napkin.

"I mean we say one thing and mean another…how did she handle it?"

**How did she handle it? She hadn't called me and she seemed pretty freaked out**

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know, she did charge off without out saying goodbye."

"You are a fucktard." Brittany said pushing her plate away. "She was probably terrified, you know her history."

Quinn resigned, if she argued with Brittany she'd be here for hours debating the topic. "I'll be more careful."

"Thank you." She leaned over, her eyes glistening. "So, what do you have for me? Any idea where I can begin?"

"I've got nothing, did you probe anyone? Did you see what you could find?"

Defeated, Brittany leaned backwards. "Nothing, only I heard some guy at the scene say something about 'grave wax'…."

Quinn zoned out at the mention of the term.

**Grave wax, was what happened to tissues when they were submerged in water too long. It turned them into a soapy fatty acid. Now I know what the smell was, it was chlorine. The bodies were submerged in water for preservation that's what gave them the bloaty clean finish. In short, the girls were pickled.**

"…Still trying to understand what the hell that is."

"Britt grave wax is from submersion in water for long periods of time."

"Huh?"

"The bodies are water bloated then dried."

"And…" Brittany said waiting for more information."

"There was a weird smell on the bodies, chlorine. These bodies have been hanging out in the equivalent of pool water."

She could tell by Brittany's blinking that she was still lost.

"Someone with a pool cleaning service perhaps."

"Fuck! I get it. That's the lead, whoever it is had access to chlorine…" She paused. "Wait that could be anyone."

"You've got a point but I'm thinking more about pool cleaning technicians, people with access to the proper knowledge of up keep that know the right balance of chemicals. Bodies can only be preserved with chlorine with the proper levels and ratios. Were looking for…"

"Professionals." Brittany finished. "Now that's a fucking lead."

They headed into the department together and separated, Brittany fell in line with some other beat cops while Quinn stepped into her very small office. She hit the lights and felt at ease. She was surrounded by blood. Pictures, diagrams and charts.

**Feels like home.**

Before she could settle into her environment, her door was ripped open and there stood Sue.

"Where's my fucking report Fabray?"

**Sue was an older woman with a stern outlook on life and a firm jaw. She tolerated few people and I wasn't an exception. The feeling was mutual.**

"Here it is, completed." Quinn saidas she slid over a folder.

Sue picked up the folder and read over its content. Her eyes scanned quickly, ready to dig into Quinn if she found even one opinion she didn't agree with

"I took the liberty of…"

"I don't mind you talking so much, as long as you don't mind me not listening." Sue said as she cut her off. She finished reading over the report and pointed a finger at Quinn as she spoke harshly. "You know what, I don't like you. I don't like your face. I don't like that cheap beauty shop haircut of yours because whatever you were shooting for, you missed. But you know what I don't like about you the most."

"What's that Sue?"

"I don't like the fact that you enjoy this so much."

Quinn smiled. "I'm only doing my job."

"Don't give me that piece of shit fake smile Fabray. I don't know what your problem is, but I'm pretty sure it's some lengthy word in the encyclopedia I can't even pronounce."

Quinn's smile faded as she looked at Sue, she had to continue to pretend to be afraid of her. Everyone else was and once again she had to blend.

"Next time I better not have to ask twice. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Quinn stated

Sue stalked off and turned briefly to once over Quinn before heading off in another direction.

**Sue Sylvester was a gutsy cop and it was a reason why she didn't like me. Somewhere deep down inside she had a hunch that something about me was off. She saw the way I admired the blood even when I was hiding it. She could see Lucy.**

_-Lucy-_

"So I think there may have been a witness at the last scene. Someone said they saw a shadowy figure, that isn't much but if we get them in for questioning we may be able to shed some light on the situation."

Santana Lopez, Lieutenant of Miami Metro clasped her hands together. "Anyone have any questions?" She asked as her eyes darted over the room.

Quinn nudged Brittany who reluctantly stood.

"I-I did."

Santana's fiery eyes landed on the blonde."What?"

Brittany froze, intimidated by the woman in front of her.

"What the fuck Pierce do you have anything to say?" The Latina probed. "Time is vital; I can't spend it looking at you."

"Well I was thinking about the grave wax and how…"

"Can you speak louder; I'm surprised you haven't mastered the art of speech with how many pimps you've had to hang around."

Quinn winced

**Low blow.**

"Maam I was thinking…the grave wax comes from being submerged in water. Since I was the first on scene I noticed the body was a little damp and there was this smell. Chlorine, I smelled chlorine." She paused to think. "What if it's someone who knows water well enough to preserve a body, what if it's someone who's familiar with pool upkeep?"

Santana pondered for a moment then broke out into laughter, slowing down only to wipe a tear from her eyes. "So you want me to call half of my force to look for a pool boy?"

"Not a pool boy maam, a pool cleaning technician."

"I don't know what the fuck you smoke Pierce but I'd like to try it. Did you stop and think that anyone can have access to chlorine, anyone can fucking google chlorine preservation and take a stab at it? Should we go door to door? Or put up a bounty with a bottle of chlorine on it saying wanted dead or alive?"

She shook her head. "The next time anyone brings a bullshit lead back to me they'll be in tube tops along with Pierce. Now get the fuck out of my briefing room and go find some more witnesses. Now!"

All in attendance shuffled out quickly even Quinn. Brittany was the first to try to break out of the room but was halted by the Lieutenant.

"Pierce! Get back over here."

The other cops shot her looks of pity and even wished her good luck. Quinn turned briefly but the door was closed in her face by Santana.

"Have a seat."

Brittany sat down, swallowing thickly.

"You do know it takes more than perky tits and a cop father to make it to detective right?"

"Yes maam, I was just…"

"You were just making a mockery of women on this force. Pool boys?" She shook her head. "I expect better…no I don't expect it I demand it!"

Brittany sighed and cast her eyes down. While they focused on the floor Santana's softened. When the blonde looked up they steeled again.

"Start taking your job seriously, if you don't at least pretend to in my presence."

"I do take this job seriously Lieutenant…I do want this..."

"No you do not, if you were half the cop your father was, you would have secured a witness when you were first to report. Dismissed!" Santana said as the blonde rose and trudged over to the door, leaving the briefing room defeated. Quinn was waiting outside for her and placed a seemingly supportive hand on her shoulder.

Brittany shrugged it off as she continued to walk not missing a beat. "Just...don't"

Quinn watched her walk away and a part of her wanted to walk in and tell the Lieutenant that that was a good lead and she should listen, but she didn't want to interfere. She didn't want Brittany to feel like that one kid whose mom talked the coach into letting her play. Instead, Quinn gathered her things to leave for the day.

_-Lucy-_

Mr. Blackwell was leaving again for the day pretty girl in tow. A car picked them up. From rags to riches a perfect depiction of how America could change one's life. Unfortunately for Blackwell, Quinn didn't much believe in anything let alone an American dream. After they left she exited her vehicle and made her way inside the complex, a black wig covering her blonde hair. Quinn could never be too careful.

She was surprised she wasn't questioned by the door man, in fact he barely looked up. She still found it shocking how it easy it was to gain access to areas as a Caucasian female. She got little to no furtive glances, and had never been held back from pretty much walking into any building. They simply assumed she belonged.

She had reviewed every inch of this complex beforehand, so it was easy for her to find and place a small device into the security system that would keep the last five minutes of feed on replay. She had five minutes to get in and out and grab the device before her image was captured.

She made her way to his floor and found his apartment door. Key card access. Rich people had this idea that electronic this and that could stop perpetrators. Quinn found old fashioned locks more challenging than these pieces of crap devices. Whistling, she reached in her pocket and pulled out an old television antenna piece. She pulled out the skinnier end and extended it to full length. She bent the thinner part and curved the rest slightly. Quinn looked around and dropped to one knee sliding the metal object under the door. The tiny hook found the door latch and she pulled backwards dragging the door handle with her. The door swung open and she push the slightly bent wire back to its smaller state and put it back in her pocket.

**Don't give me flashy universal hotel keys and thoughts about seducing maintenance for master cards. Just give me a piece of an old rabbit eared TV and I could work wonders. I enjoyed the simple things in life. Of course a certain level of technology was needed in this case but I didn't rely on it. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the classics.**

After gaining entry she began to look through his personal affects. All she could find in the room was a bunch of booze and a partially snorted line of coke. She went through the drawers and found nothing substantial, only knots of cash he had probably secured from his victims bank account and mountains of overdue credit card bills in his name.

Judging by these old statements, Mr. Blackwell had a taste for finer things, and had been living well beyond his means before this incident occurred.

She checked a bag filled with personal effects and stumbled upon a ring. She had seen it somewhere before. She took out her smart phone and googled the victims name. He was seen in several pictures smiling with his family, decked out in business suits. Then she found one with his hand extended. Quinn zoomed in with her thumb and index and held the phone and the ring in hand side by side.

**Bingo**.

After putting everything back in its place and grabbing the chip, she left the apartment building and got in her car driving off. Not a trace of her was in that building, no record of her in or around it could be found. After she got down the street a ways she parked, found a discrete spot and changed her plates back to the originals.

Next on her list was to prepare her kill room. She pulled out a notepad. Duck tape, check. Saran wrap, check. Now Quinn had to pick just the right spot.

**To me, Lord Harold Samuel had it right. It was all about location.**

_-Lucy-_

Night had fallen in Miami. Despite the disappearance of the sun it was still humid outside. A sheen of sweat had formed on her brow and she wiped it off with the back of her sleeve. She wasn't jittery or nervous; she had literally waited hours for one of her previous kills. This was what came with her duty, patience. If you weren't a methodical killer you were just some random psycho looking to get his rocks off.

She watched him through the windows hob knobbing with rich folk and drinking way too much. He'd float in and out of her sight through the glass each time a different woman under his arm. He was the life of the party. And soon he'd be dead. She focused on Thomas.

**I never understood why people wanted money. Why they would do anything to gather with other people with money and talk about how much money they had. People would do anything for money and Thomas; he was a perfect example of that.**

A few hours later, she watched him stumble from the classy joint and brush off a valet who looked as if he was warning him not to drive. He looked like he was going to hit the boy, but settled for getting in his face and snatching his keys. He got in and took off recklessly down the street.

A bit of distance behind him Quinn's car cranked to life and followed. She flicked the CD player and TACO's 'Puttin on the Ritz' began to play. It was fitting. The opening to the song began to play as Quinn slipped on her Isotoner gloves.

_If you're blue and you don't know__  
__where to go to, why don't you go__  
__where fashion sits__  
__Puttin' on the Ritz_

She gripped the steering wheel and cut a corner, the street lights beaming past her vision in the night. He swerved and she saw the tire she had rigged to go while the valet's back was turned was almost ready to give.

_Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper__  
__Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper)__  
__Come let's mix where Rockefellers__  
__walk with sticks or um-ber-ellas__  
__in their mitts__  
__Puttin' on the Ritz_

The tire gave out and he careened for awhile and finally came to a halt on a deserted street. She stopped behind him and watched as he got out cursing and kicking the car. She only had a small window to get to him before he called for roadside assistance of some sort. She quickly got out of the car and walked towards him. What he didn't see was the needle she hid behind her back. She heard the music still playing on in the back ground.

"Need some help?"

"No, no I'm fine."

"How about you come sit with me while we call for someone."

He eyed her hungrily. She could tell by the look on his face that he thought she knew who he was and wanted a piece of his action.

**Gross.**

She motioned for him to go forward and he did. They neared her car again, the music growing louder as they approached it.

_Have you seen the well-to-do_

_Up and down Park Avenue_

_On that famous thoroughfare_

_With their noses in the air_

"Thomas Blackwell, right?"

"The one and only." He grinned. "You know I can buy a pretty girl like you a lot of nice things. I can take you places you've never been before. We can go back to my place after this, drink some champagne, and relax in my Jacuzzi."

_High hats, and arrow collars, white spats and lots of dollars_

_Spending every dime_

_For a wonderful time_

"Pass. I'd much rather you come to mine." She lurched forward and stuck him in the neck with the needle causing the man to slump over. She caught him before he could completely fall down to the ground. She popped her trunk and gracelessly shoved the man inside.

_If you're blue and you don't know__  
__where to go to why don't you go__  
__where fashion sits  
_

She stood over him her hazel eyes burning with anticipation of what was to come. Thomas Blackwell lived for money, and now he'd die for it. By Quinn's hands.

_Puttin' on the Ritz _

On the last line of the song she slammed the trunk shut, sealing Thomas's fate.

_-Lucy-_

The whiff of ammonia brought slightly back. She tossed the capsule to the side and watched the man struggle on the hook he was suspended to. He was still discombobulated from the drug.

"Wake up Thomas."

"Mhmmm…what?"

"Wake the fuck up!" She reached up and smacked him repeatedly until he finally came to.

His leg dangled frantically, his eyes went wide with fear. "What the fuck!" He tried to break free and looked upwards to see if he was making any leeway. He wasn't, he was strapped to the hook securely.

"Are you crazy lady?" Then his tone switched from fear to arrogance. "Do you know who I am?"

"Funny you should ask." She picked up one of the knives she had displayed and walked towards him, gesturing with the knife as she spoke. "I know exactly who you are…do you?"

"I'm Thomas Black well, business man and…"

"Murderer."

"Fuck you! I didn't do anything! I'm innocent."

"Then explain this." She said as she walked over to him. She pulled the ring from her pocket and held it up so he could see it. After he got a good look she shoved it into his mouth. He spat the ring out and it chimed across the floor.

"I found it!"

"Bullshit." She said as she shook her head.

"Help!" He started to yell, and she began to yell it with him. He started to sob afterwards and she chuckled.

"Yell all you want, nobody is going to hear you. You're going to die alone, just like he did."

"Is it the money, you can have it…all of it."

She reached up with the knife and slashed his face collecting some on a slide. He cried out as she secured the top layer over the blood sample. The blood made her feel heady. Her eyes lowered and she couldn't hear his cries anymore. She only heard the crashing of blood with his heart. It was steady and growing with rhythm in his fear.

Her phone rang and jolted her back into reality. It was Rachel; she let it go to voicemail. She couldn't answer the phone with this guy yelling in the back ground. She walked over to him and stuck the knife to his belly.

"Bend down so I can put this tape over your mouth or I will fucking gut you."

He did as he was told and she turned her back to dial Rachel up.

"Hey, you."

"Hi."

**She sounded distant.**

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to your call, I had something to take care of."

"Oh, I'm not interrupting am I?"

**Yes, you fucking are.**

"No, not at all. What's up?"

"The other night…"

**This was not the time for heart to hearts. Despite that I couldn't find it within myself to speed her along.**

"…you didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't the crime scene." Rachel finished.

Quinn listened on. "I just want to make sure you're okay. I hadn't heard from you and I thought it would be rude to just drop by."

"I just wanted to say…I…do you mind coming over? I kind of want to tell you in person."

"Sure thing, it might take me a bit but I'll come over when I can."

"I'll wait up for you."

"See you soon."

"Bye."

Quinn looked at the phone in her hand and decided seeing Rachel tonight wouldn't be all the bad. In the very next instance she looked over at Thomas and scowled. She cut her phone completely off.

**No more interruptions Mr. Blackwell, now it's just you and I.**

She pulled back a curtain and showed Thomas the face of his victim, along with pictures of his wife and kids.

"Why take a man from his family? Was the money worth it?"

He scoffed. "Like he was a hero! You know how he got his money, off the backs of the little man. A greedy over privileged piece of shit, so don't even bother." He paused. "Do you know what it's like huh? To live and bend and scrape for trash like him! Why does he get the lavish life and I get to live in a roach infested shotgun house? Yeah, I killed him! I did it! Because I was sick and tired of scraping by! He had plenty and he could have given me some, he just wouldn't listen. He thought he was better than everybody."

"But he's not the one on trial here Thomas." She said. "You are."

"This isn't a trial you crazy bitch, you're trying to kill me!"

"I'm not trying to kill you Thomas." She said with a smirk. "I'm going to."

He shouted again and began to pray out loud. She marched over to him and held the knife at his belly again. "Stop. You stop it right now. That's never helped anyone when I've gotten this close."

He continued to pray.

"You want religion Thomas? Do you?" She walked back over to her display of kill weapons, running her hands along each one while speaking. "For the love of money is the root of all evil."

She almost picked up her gut hook but picked a long and curved machete instead. She removed it from its cloth sheath and held it into the air.

Thomas urinated on the floor.

"Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

He spoke quietly, knowing he was nearing the last words he'd ever speak. "I just wanted to see what life was like when you could have things…" He closed his eyes and tears streamed down his face.

Quinn took the machete and made one quick slice across his stomach. The cut was so quick and clean it looked as if it was painted on. Slowly the skin began to pucker and the blood began to flow. Maybe it was the pain or curiosity, but he looked down at it rushing from his body, and then back up at her. He tried to speak again but couldn't find the words. He only gasped and whimpered and struggled.

She stepped closer her mouth agape. She wondered if she created art. Would someone walk in on this and think it was just as beautiful as she did. His head hung, his stomach slit, his organs peeking out waiting for the slight brush to send them spilling to the floor. It looked like a painting snatched off the walls of some museum. He had become more than what he wanted in this moment, he was a master piece. She took in the blood, watched it seep down his legs and meet with the ground beneath him.

She slashed him again and his innards dropped to the ground in a semi steaming pile. His head went limp and she bent beside the intestines.

**I had disemboweled him and realized in that moment that this was my sex. This is what got my blood pumping. Finding new ways to get the world to bleed for me. This is what I craved.**

_-Lucy-_

Clean up was quickly and quietly done and Thomas Blackwell was traveling down river, ravished by bigger prey or softened for smaller. Another person brought to justice. The kind of justice you cannot come back from. She went back to her apartment, showered, cleaned and placed Thomas's slide along with the others, then headed towards Rachel's. She had lost track of the time and spent more time with Thomas's remains then she intended to. She pulled up outside of Rachel's and she answered, sleep laced in her voice.

"Quinn." She yawned. "You didn't have to come…it's really early."

"I told you I would come."

"And I said I would wait." She smiled.

She stepped forward and grabbed Quinn's hand and led her inside. She wrapped her smaller arms around Quinn and rested her head on her shoulder. Quinn panicked, that hug was quick and she wasn't prepared for it. She stiffened and Rachel sensed it, pulling backwards.

"Are you angry with me?"

"No, why would I be?"

"No reason…you just feel weird."

**Like I just disemboweled a man?**

They stood apart for a moment. Rachel was the first to move. Quinn had hardly noticed what she was wearing. It wasn't her usual pj's, this was something…slinky. She wore a sheer little top to cover up but soon she slid it down to expose small, round, sun kissed shoulders.

"I want you Quinn."

**Oh.**

"Rachel…"

She stepped closer and pressed a finger to Quinn's lip. "I know you have needs. Any normal couple who've been seeing each other this long do more than peck each other on the cheek. I don't let you touch me; I don't let you near me. Leaving like that the other day was terrible."

She cupped either side of Quinn's cheeks speaking, keeping her eyes trained on hers. "I don't want you to think you're not worth my affection. I don't want you to think that I'm just doing this, I want you to know that you are special to me and being with you…" She sighed. "…is more than I could ever imagine. You're sweet and kind and gentle with me…you're one of the best things that's ever happened to me and I…I don't want to lose you."

She leaned up slightly and captured Quinn's lips with her own. Rachel closed her eyes but Quinn kept hers open. Here Rachel was spilling her heart out and trying to…bed her…and she couldn't even get into the kiss. Until she felt Rachel's tongue graze hers.

Quinn took in a loud breath and Rachel's eyes opened and she removed her lips from Quinn's. She bent and kissed her chin, then her right cheek. She planted a sweet kiss to her left and shifted all the way up on her tip toes to her forehead. Quinn shuddered when she felt her soft lips on her eye lids. Then Rachel's lips found Quinn's again. Quinn ran her hands up Rachel's sides and gripped her shoulders. The sudden action made her rip away and close the sheer top over her body. She looked away, realizing what she had done.

"Sorry..."

"Don't."

Rachel looked like she was about to cry.

"Don't apologize anymore." Quinn walked over to her and motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. Quinn plopped down beside her and looked her in the eyes.

"Rachel I know what happened to you. I know you've seen things, been through things. Trust me when I tell you we have more in common then you think."

Rachel took one of Quinn's hands and threaded their fingers together.

"Everything between us will come in time. There isn't a rush or an expiration date on these kind of things. I'm willing to go as slow as you want to."

**Even slower than that.**

"I just don't want you to think that I don't care about you."

"Rachel there are plenty of ways you let me know. You let me eat the last slice of pizza…"

Rachel laughed. "Because it's not vegan."

Quinn grinned. "But you still let me do it." She paused. "You took me to the beach and we built that killer sand castle and got second place. You do this thing where…" She sighed and looked away. "When you see an expression on my face that you don't like, you take your hand and wipe over it and then I'm smiling. When I talk to you, you listen. You really listen to every single one of my words and to top it off…you're just…you're good for me."

Rachel hurled her body over to Quinn's and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"You're perfect." She said into the blondes shoulder.

"No one's perfect Rach."

"Well then you're perfectly imperfect."

Rachel pulled back and kissed her again, separating their lips with a soft smack. "I'm just lucky I found the one person in Miami who gets me."

**I smiled but inside I felt bad for her. She found and was beginning to fall for one of the active serial killers in Miami.**

"C'mon, I'll make you some bacon."

Quinn quirked a brow. "When did you start keeping bacon in stock?"

"You didn't know, I cook it, open the window and you come floating down the street like a cartoon character. I even rubbed a bit behind my ears on our first date."

"Sounds about right." Quinn said with a nod, smiling at Rachel's joke.

Rachel got up from the couch and began the preparation for the food; Quinn followed and sat at the table watching her cook.

"Hey Rach?"

"Hmm?" Rachel said trying to get the bacon out of the package without actually touching it.

"I'm lucky too."

_-Lucy-_

She felt good being back in her apartment. Quinn was busting at the seams with bacon and the only thing on her mind was a good long nap. Her interaction with Rachel kept a smile on her face.

**I liked kissing Rachel…like that. I think I'd like to do that more often. I mean…might as well make the cover convincing right?**

Quinn walked over to her apartment counter and placed her keys down. All was well until she noticed something was out of place. The third branch on her fichus had been moved to a different angle.

**Someone had been inside my home.**

She looked around furtively then stepped inside her bedroom. There sitting on her bed was a head. Not a human head but some kind of large doll head. She walked closer and almost touched it then mentally chastised herself. Quinn went back to her kitchen grabbed some gloves and placed them on quickly picking the doll up by the hair so it dangled in front of her face. The doll had on a full face of makeup, lashes and the blonde hair was curled and styled. Then she thought back to the crime scene the other night. This was an invitation. Whoever this killer was he either picked up on Quinn's interest at the scene, or he knew about her. She inspected the head further shifting it from side to side.

**A gift. No, not a gift but an invitation. This kind of bold move spoke to me. I admired the intricacies of it and I couldn't wait to see where this was leading me. He had gone through all this trouble to make himself known to me. He was letting me know he enjoyed me as an audience, keeping me in suspense. Making me long to see what he had in store. And oh boy…I couldn't wait to see more.**

*Credit Outro - Talking Heads -"Psycho Killer"*


	3. As time goes by

Hi guys! Please while reading keep in mind that acts of violence are not good and definitely not okay. This story can be a bit gruesome at times, given recent events I felt I should share that this is only an act of fiction. If you want to hurt yourself or anyone else, seek help. All of this is FICTION and nothing belongs to me. Hope you enjoy.

* Intro - Theme music - The Constancy Part 2*

Quinn walks from her apartment as if it was an ordinary day. She waves to her neighbor and continues down the steps of her apartment, her movements sliding into slow motion.

As she hits the streets a blood drop falls from the sky and plants itself firmly beside her on the pavement. She continues to walk as more of the viscous liquid pours from the sky. She causally bats some off of her brow as the city goers around her shield themselves from the rain. One man stalks past her, a newspaper over his head protecting him from the bloody downpour. As he passes Quinn she watches him walk away and then notices two children splashing about in the blood as if they were frolicking in normal rain water.

She looks to her right and a dog is briskly shaking off the blood, its velvet drops cascading in sprinkles off his coat.

No one seems to notice the red colored droplets but Quinn. She walks down the street a bit and extends a hand, letting the blood pool and drop from in between her fingertips. Others continue by her, finishing their daily routine but Quinn watches the blood collect in her palm then looks up, a satisfied grin sitting securely on her face.*

2 - 'As time goes by'

Quinn turned the corner of the Miami Metro Police Department corridors dressed in her usual casual gear. She greeted a few officers decked to the nines in clothing and wondered how they survived in Miami's weather. She was well liked amongst the staff because she was always a friendly face and a lending hand in the department to whomever asked her.

**I had read in a self-help book that a smile could get you many places in life. This cheesy thing on my face right now did all the work for me in concealing Lucy. **

She shook another officer's hand and watched as he joined another group of officers who turned to her and waved. She waved back, her smile growing broader. She continued her walk and paused to high-five a female officer on her way out the door.

"121-106! Fabray they didn't stand a chance!"

**Along with the smile I wore, insight about trivial things seemed to help me blend as well. I wasn't huge on anything outside of 'Lucy's world', but having similar interests always had its advantages. No one would suspect their most beloved co-worker was a stone cold killer. People had a way of twisting their own doubt or suspicions and feelings because it simply offset their universe. My secret would remain safe as long as I remained well received**

"26 points and 13 assist. Glad he took his talents to South Beach."

The officer pumped her fist, reveling in Miami's newly won championship. Quinn continued to her destination, greeting others in passing until she reached the workout room. She spotted Brittany in the middle of taking down one of her fellow officers, finishing him off with a cross arm bar. He tapped in submission. She used his chest to push off from the ground and stood. Brittany was immediately met with applause from others around her as she raised her hands in victory. She readjusted her blonde pony-tail and helped him up from the ground.

Any other male would be too wounded by this public ass kicking to be so gracious in defeat. Honestly, he was cheered as well for lasting so long. Brittany was very skilled in combat. Maybe it was the long legs and her athletic build, but I suspected she just had an instinct for plotting out weaknesses in peoples offensive and defensive tactics. Either way, she was a champion of sorts in these parts and sparring with her was no easy task.

"Who's next?" The blonde playfully boasted, as she waited for another brave soul to surface. A cocky male officer raised his hand and walked over, positioning himself across the mat. They both dropped into a fighting stance and Quinn observed Brittany. Her eyes scanned his body and Quinn could almost see her working out how she would take him down. The contender however, was too busy searching Brittany's eyes for leverage. He lunged and she side stepped him, her body still stooped in her fighting gate.

She watched her friend's glorious blue eyes light-up as he lunged again. She easily evaded him and gave him a light swat, using a little force and his momentum, to send him flying face first to the mat. He huffed and Brittany resumed her stance, shifting her weight from foot to foot. He got up and had abandoned any type of game plan, only acting in desperation to save face.

When he tried to swing, Brittany grabbed his arm and once again, used his momentum to flip him over to the mat. She quickly jumped on his back and swung his arm between her legs. After she had him pinned, she used both her arms to rope around his neck. She pulled backwards, her hands locked under his chin and he had no choice but to submit.

She got up from the mat once again and helped her opponent up. He gave her a begrudging handshake and made a hasty exit for the showers.

Brittany approached Quinn breathing heavily.

"Kicking ass and taking names this early Britt?"

She grinned and grabbed a water bottle, slurping from it before wiping any remnants from her lips with the back of her hand. "Gotta keep the cardio high if I'm going to make detective right?"

**I hadn't had a chance to really speak to her about what happened between her and the Lieutenant in the office. Brittany wasn't afraid to share, but I had learned in my friendship with her over the years that if she ever didn't share, not to push for it. She was a trooper and by her statements her determination was still alive and kicking. I liked that about her, she was persistent.**

"Want some of this Fabray?" The blonde asked as she playfully jabbed at Quinn.

**I could take her. I knew I could, but I never fought in public. No one needed to know that I was trained to harm. All they needed to know was that I was the affable blood specialist. No one needed to fear me and I had no point to prove. Officers on the other hand, had to remain cocky and fit, and occasionally beat on their chests and demonstrate their degree of toughness.**

"Pass."

Brittany shifted closer to her friend, her ear covered for better hearing. "Excuse me?"

"I pass Britt."

She shifted even closer. "I'm sorry, I don't speak chicken shit."

Quinn shook her head and Brittany wrapped a sweaty arm around her friends shoulder. "Only kidding ya' Q. Oh! I have to tell you something."

Brittany slid her arm from around her friend's neck. "I met someone!"

"Okay." Quinn said unenthused.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Oh, do try to contain your excitement." Her tone shifted. "C'mon Q, I fucking met the most amazing woman ever. She's funny and charming and…"

**My friend fell in love very quickly. The love had a tendency to die at the same speed. She would be so utterly engrossed with someone and then the next day, or week depending upon her mood, she'd find one thing she despised about them and instantly be over it. She once dumped a man because of the fact that he ate Raisin Bran.**

"That's good." Quinn said and grinned.

"Oh don't be like that."

"What?"

"Don't be all…'that's good'."

"What do you want me to say Brittany?" Quinn questioned. "It's bad?"

"No, you're writing it off because you know my history with relationships."

"I'm not writing it off."

"I know you Quinn." She pointed towards the other girls head. "Right now in that noggin' of yours, you've probably already analyzed and assumed this is just a fling."

**What can I say? She knew me.**

Quinn played the comment down. "Brittany, I'm glad you've found someone else to hang out with."

Brittany smiled.

"Now you can stop pestering me."

Her comment earned her a middle finger.

"Anyway, she's awesome and I want us to…"

Her statement was cut short by Lieutenant Lopez dressed completely down. Everyone in the rooms jaw dropped. This is the first time in a long time any of them had seen her outside of anything less than a power suit. She wore Miami Metro black gym shorts and a grey department shirt tucked in. Her hair was in a neat and uniformed ponytail.

"I heard someone was handing out ass whoopings today." Her fierce dark brown eyes immediately fell on Brittany.

Quinn looked at her friend who paled.

**She was receiving an open invitation to the mat by Lieutenant Lopez. Judging by the look on her face, she had already lost.**

"Officer Pierce." The Lieutenant said, dragging out the end of her name. "I'm next."

Brittany turned her back to the Lieutenant and took a swig from her water bottle. Quinn gave her an encouraging pat on the back.

"This is your chance to let out all of that frustration." Quinn whispered, trying to pump her friend up.

Brittany sighed and placed the water bottle down. She stepped to the opposite side of the mat and waited for Santana to cross over. Santana dropped her gym bag and kicked it over to a corner. Word had somehow gotten out that the two were about to spar and a small crowd gathered around them.

Santana's smirk grew wider as her and Brittany circled each other. Brittany sprang for her legs but Santana evaded the take down casually, as they returned to circling the mat. They inched in closer to one another as Brittany threw a light jab which the Lieutenant swatted away.

Brittany's methodical approach was evaporating and now her offense mirrored her earlier opponent. She was just desperate to show up her superior at this point. She was hastily moving in for leverage while Santana kept her defense leveled and even. Each one of Brittany's attempts at a takedown, were met with air as the Latina dodged them.

The next power attack from Brittany was met with a sweeping leg takedown that sent her to the mat with a thud. Santana landed on her back as well and used her legs and arms to flip back up into position, which caused the crowd to cheer. Brittany got up and charged for the other woman's legs trying to flip her but Santana hooked her neck, spun and landed on her back. Brittany tried to claw at the grip around her neck, but Santana wrapped her legs around the blonde's torso and secured her arms to her side.

Brittany tapped.

Santana released her and jumped from the mat, her arms extended in victory. The Lieutenant wiped sweat from her brow. "Damn shame, I thought there was some competition." She smirked and began to walk away throwing one last remark over her shoulder. "Looks like you've still got quite a bit to learn Pierce."

Quinn walked over and helped her friend to her feet.

**Brittany's face was completely red. I'm not sure if she was flushed from action, completely embarrassed or extremely pissed off. At this point I'm pretty sure it was a cocktail of all three potential scenarios that had her so wound up.**

"If I could get away with killing one person I swear…" Brittany said between breaths. "…it would be that bitch."

**I was the wrong one to speak to about hypothetical murders. I had a tendency of following through.**

"She did that on purpose." Brittany said as she turned to Quinn. "Why does she have to take the piss out of me."

"Maybe she sees some hidden potential in you…"

"Maybe she's just an evil, power hungry twat who can't stand other women with ambition."

**I just think she wants to fuck you.**

"Maybe Britt maybe…"

I had to get her mind off of this, or I'd be in this gym talking about her hatred for our lovely Lieutenant all evening.

"You were saying something about your new acquaintance?" Quinn asked, trying to steer her friend into a more positive zone.

Brittany still distracted managed to comment. "Yeah, something about…" She was still staring off into the direction the Lieutenant had gone in. "Yeah...I'm sorry…yeah, she wants us to go out on a double date."

"A double date…as in…you and her and me and Rach?"

"No, she means me you and the goddamn Easter bunny. What do you think Q?" Brittany said sarcastically.

**I don't know how I feel about a double date. It was hard enough to date Rachel solo, let alone having two other people to interact with as well. I needed to buy some time.**

"Look, I'm not sure what Rachel has up for tonight so…I'll call her and then I'll let you know."

"Okay and you'd better call her or…"

"Or what?"

"I'll kick your ass."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'll call the Lieutenant for backup."

Brittany squinted at her friend and was about to lay into her when her phone rang.

"Fabray." She said holding Brittany's attack with a serious expression. "Yeah Noah? And Sue's doing what? I'll be right there." She hung up her phone. "Gotta' run Britt, see you later." Quinn stated as she made her way towards the workout areas exit.

"Don't fucking forget to ask Rachel!"

"I won't!" Quinn called back over her shoulder.

I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to call Rachel. I didn't want to get caught up in some meet and greet. I needed my nights for me. For Lucy. To shake Quinn, co-workers, facades and random basketball trivia away. There was a lot of lengths I'd go through to blend, but sitting through an awkward meal with Brittany's new love interest was simply not one of them.

_-Lucy-_

The call from Noah sent Quinn to an upper-middle class side of town. The homes were neatly arranged and meshed well with suburban design. There were no garish buildings painted with vibrant colors to cover the crippling despair of poverty, no older women fanning themselves because of lack of air conditioning and no children plotting on fire hydrants to escape the heat.

**Snobs and hipsters hate the suburbs because they are not authentic, and because they are slow and boring.**** I hated the suburbs because they were a lie. They offered a false sense of security, of better living and better opportunity. Truly you can make a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven, meaning no matter where you are you can do bad things and bad things can happen to you. **

She passed each medium sized estate with its perfectly uniformed grass and waste receptacles all aligned as she coasted the neighborhood streets. Her phone rang again.

"I'm right down the street; yes I'm going as fast as I can. Well the more we talk, the more you're slowing me down."

She hung up the phone and finally pulled up outside of the address she had been given on the way. Already a news van had appeared and some sun-dried reporter was standing outside feigning concern. It wouldn't be long before the others arrived and started circling.

**Vultures.**

She ducked under the tape and stuck her badge out, already two steps ahead of the officers questioning her arrival. She had her bag strapped over her chest and walked with her hand on top of it, steadying it as she climbed the few steps to enter the victims domicile.

Jacob was already dusting for prints when he turned to see her arrive.

"Nice of you to join us Fabray." He said, as he looked down at her over his thick rimmed glasses.

"Sorry, I got lost."

"Yeah well while you were 'lost' Sue's been practically knee deep in me and Puckerman's asses."

"What did you guys do?"

"I don't fucking know Quinn…if I knew I would immediately do the opposite so she wouldn't threaten to cut my balls off again." He crooked his legs to hide his crotch. "The boys can't go through that kind of stress."

**Gross.**

"What if they start losing their hair?" He finished with a grin.

**Double gross.**

"That's fucking disgusting Jacob." Noah said as he turned the corner, latex gloves already snapped into place. His dark hair was slicked back with perspiration and he had circles forming under his eyes. Judging by his appearance she could tell he hadn't been getting much sleep. Bloats were beginning to form and his normal scruff was offset with a quickly forming beard.

**Just as I suspected he's probably been up and in overload trying to find my little friend. Let's hope for the women of Miami that it pays off, and for me, that it doesn't…there were some things I wanted to look into before whoever it was, was caught.**

Noah's peach colored button down was rolled up to his elbows and had become nearly translucent in the armpit area from his sweat. Wrinkled brown dress pants and matching shoes finished off his disheveled look.

"You look like shit." Quinn stated flatly as he handed her a pair of gloves.

"You would too if you had a menopausal she-demon riding your back. Listen."

She squinted and tuned her ears to hear Sues muffled rantings and ravings from the other room.

"I work with a bunch of imbeciles. Four hours into the investigation and all I have is a cold body!"

Quinn shook her head and whistled. "And I'm here because…"

"Because death is always off set by big breasted blondes." Jacob said matter of factly.

Noah sent him a look of annoyance and motioned for Quinn to follow him. As they walked he filled her in on what they had so far.

"We got an African America female, 5'6, medium build, brown eyes, and dark black hair. We found her ID, her names Suzette Perkins, called it in and it turns out she was an informant for Sue. This house was being used to stow her away while we she siphoned information from an ex-boyfriend in a highly profiled Miami gang."

They passed by a doorway and Sue's voice grew louder. She was in the room with an officer who looked like she wanted to bolt.

**Sue was all limbs and teeth at this point. She was taller than the other woman, so all I saw was a huge angry giant roaring at a dwarf. She was pointing and firing off insults and profanities so vile even a sailor would be tempted to cover their ears. She was pissed because her informant got body-bagged. With Sue, time would tell if she only cared because the girl would no longer be able to aide her investigation.**

Noah led her to the master bedroom and ducked around the corner of the bed. The woman lay on her back on the floor. Half the side of her head was missing, but Quinn quickly spotted them in fragments of skull and brain matter across the opposing wall.

**Noah shook his head and of course I mimicked to show my 'disgust'. This didn't look like a crime scene to me, it looked like an exhibit. I admired the splattered display of blood and bone but it was no Jackson Pollouck. This wasn't the work of an abstract expressionist, it was the work of a cowardly goon who crept into a woman's home and blew her brains out. A heavy handed thug who didn't know how to treat the blood, how to make it tell a story. What a waste.**

"We've done an initial sweep and were coming up clean Quinn." His tired eyes caught hers. As he spoke, his strong jaw tensed. "I really need you to find something here…it's a damn shame what happened and I'd hate to see some asshole go scot-free."

**The concern for this woman burned in his eyes, if I were any other person, it would have been touching.**

"That's what I get paid to do Noah." She said adding a twinge of reassurance.

"That's strange if you get paid to do it then why-in-the-fuck are you and Noah standing around like the goddamn Easter Island heads."

Sue stood in the doorway, her hands on either one of her hips. She lowered them and strode into the room her eyes shooting daggers in Quinn's direction.

**She wasn't pleased with my presence, then again when was she ever.**

"Why isn't the missing stooge up here at the moment?" Sue questioned.

Noah cleared his throat and spoke coolly. "He's downstairs sweeping the banisters and doorknobs, the usual."

"Well the fucking crime scene is in the bedroom, this is where he should start."

"He's making his way up, we need to check these areas first before any of them accidentally get ruined by our lovely beat cops."

"Well he needs to move it." Her glare shifted. "And you Fabray? There a reason why you're not analyzing the blood by now?"

"Just getting to it maam."

**I didn't want to be snarky; it would just set her off again.**

"Just getting into it? Funny, you usually dive into blood like a shark in the ocean. Why the hesitation Fabray? Fraid' you might pop a lady boner in front of your pal?"

**Lady boner?**

Noah swept to Quinn's defense. "Lay off Sue, for fucks sake. You think were just lollygagging around with someone's murder? Huh? You think we'd honestly be shooting the shit with the trail growing weaker by the second." He stepped closer to her. "Do us all a favor and back off."

"Watch your tone, little boy."

**Noah was beginning to lose it. He was calm and rational but very defensive over things he cared about. Somehow I guess I found my way onto his list as well.**

"I'm so tired of your shit Sue. Okay, we are all trying our best…"

"Well Noah…" She stepped closer to him. "…I'll tell you what you can do with your best."

Quinn sidestepped in between them. "Sue I think you need some air."

"And when did I start taking orders from _staff_ members? You're completely out of order Fabray, stand down."

Quinn shrugged. "Fine by me but I think you both should take a moment to look out that window. There are a growing number of reporters and it isn't going to die down anytime soon. Even if we haven't confirmed it, the public is convinced we got ourselves a bonafide serial killer on the loose. And we can't find anything to pin the damn guy." She paused and looked from detective to detective. "Does any one of you want to read or hear on the news about how the Miami Metro Police Department can't fight crime because of the fighting amongst themselves?"

Noah's tense stance slackened and Sue's followed suit.

"Find me something or the next time I come in here Puckerman, Carrie over here won't be able to save you."

She turned and bounded off as Noah sighed. "I was supposed to be saving your ass."

"Looks pretty intact to me...yours on the other hand…"

Noah grinned and folded his arms across his chest. "What do you think?"

"I think this is a pretty messed up situation. But it isn't about what I think Puckerman. It's about what she's thinking, or what she was thinking at the time of her death."

**They say even in death, subconsciously a person who was murdered lasts act is to give away clues as to how it happened. It's a myth, but most myths were based loosely on some truth.**

Puckerman eyed the body as Quinn set her bag down and began reviewing the area. She walked a few inches from the body and checked the angle of the blood to the actual body.

"The killer came at her from behind Noah."

He walked over and positioned himself behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"She tried to turn away." He said and Quinn followed the action.

"Yep, he used his arm to steady her…probably about around her neck."

"Then…bang." Noah said making a fake gun with his fingers. "Her body spun down to the floor."

"No fair Puckerman." Jacob said as he entered the room. "She's handing out hetero passes today and it's you she wastes the event on."

Quinn rolled her eyes and continued her explanation. "Look at the spacing of the blood on the wall, it's consistent with a gunshot yes, but she didn't spin out she was being thrown while the shot went off."

"What makes you think that?" Jacob interrupted.

"The length of the blood stain is the hypotenuse while the width is the opposite side of the angle of impact guys. This is a high-velocity splatter...usually caused by gunshot wounds, although they can be caused by other weapons if the assailant exerts an extreme amount of force."

"That would be great if I understood what the hell you were saying, simpler terms Quinn I'm a little fachadick over here."

"Simplest terms, she was shot while in motion."

Jacob reviewed the angle himself as well as the positioning. "Something she did made him chuck her while he was firing."

"She fought." Noah said. "She fought for her fucking life."

"She did…so the perps going to have some war wounds." Jacob added.

**He was an ass, but he certainly wasn't a dumb one.**

Noah cautiously stepped over the body and motioned for Quinn and Jacob to do the same.

"What's this?"

"More blood." Quinn said as she tried to disguise the edge in her voice. She snapped out of it. "A trail this far from point of impact. He shot across her head; everything would be going in the opposite direction."

Noah squatted by the trail of blood by the bedside and lifted the covers back. "Well hot damn." He turned to Jacob with a grin. "Got some tweezers on you bro?"

"How else do you think I keep these perfectly manicured eyebrows Noah?"

"Stop fucking around and give me the damn things Jacob!"

He handed them over as Noah pinched at something under the bed. "Remember how we said it had to have been some kind of commotion with the perp."

"Yeah?" Quinn asked.

Noah stood and held up the tweezers. In between the metal picks was a giant chunk of human flesh.

"She bit the son-of-a-bitch." Noah said.

Quinn peered closer. "It's a tattoo."

The flesh was shriveled back but the ink was plain as day. It was a crescent blood-red moon.

"La Luna's." Noah stated. "One of them had to find out about her and tracked her down. His ass is cooked."

"No his ass is mine!" Sue thundered from the door way. "Jacob I want you back at the lab with results on that flesh expedited!" Sue turned to exit but was halted by Noah.

"If you're headed off to one of their hangouts you shouldn't go alone Sue."

"I do what I want." She muttered and was gone before he could offer assistance.

_-Lucy-_

**After I had gathered the evidence I could, I decided to go for a lunch break. A carne asada burrito, medium well was the perfect replenishment for my mid-day hunger.**

Quinn flicked through a file on her lap, careful not to spill the contents of her lunch on it. She sweet talked them out of the old record keeper by listening to his tales of war. He would go on for hours, oblivious that these 'open cases' were being closed by her hand.

**This one in particular intrigued me. She had reported a murder of one of the girls in her dance company. She was brought in for questioning and despite being on the short list of suspects her father hired an amazing lawyer who called off the dogs. I never understood why cops had to shrink in fear when they saw a lawyer coming.**

Quinn finished off her burrito and exited her vehicle. She crossed the street and entered the building the woman was in, then made her way up to the studios level. She didn't enter the room, she simply watched from the window, mindful of being seen.

**She was an angel. Beautiful, long, lean and floating. Floating across the studio floor effortlessly. The girls sat enamored by her display and even I had become entranced. I had to remind myself why I was here. Joanna Peterson was older, 29 to be exact. Her skill was tremendous but her age would soon see her fall down the pyramid because in the world of the arts…in some aspects, youth seemed to overshadow experience. Everyone was always looking for the next new thing. I could see why she wanted to kill the up and comer, but she had probably done it for all the wrong reasons. She killed the girl to stop her from taking her spot; I would have killed her because I prefer a strong standard to an experimental new age any day.**

Quinn's phone rang and she quickly looked from side to side to see if anyone had been alerted to her location.

**I had to start cutting this freakin' thing off.**

She checked the caller ID and saw that it was Rachel.

She always answered for Rachel.

Quinn made her way outside of the building and back to her car. A quick click of a button and she was speaking to her girlfriend.

"Hey Quinn" An upbeat voice said from the other line.

"Hey Rach, how's your day going?"

"Fantastic, we had a breakthrough today. One of the new coming women to the shelter has decided she will file charges against her husband. Isn't that great?"

**I really admired the fact that Rachel could come from such a dark place and use that to bring light into others lives. A part of me was beginning to think that somewhere deep inside I was hoping she could do the same for me. **

"Rachel that's fantastic, how are we going to celebrate?"

"Well…I was hoping we could do the double date with Brittany."

**Son-of-a-bitch.**

"What double date?"

**Too late for a lie but I'd try anything at this point.**

"The one you were supposed to call me and ask me about?" Rachel said.

**I could hear the sly grin on her face on the other end of the receiver. Brittany slipped behind my back and asked her knowing I was going to forget or not even bother. Was it too late to rethink this best friend gimmick?**

"Oh yeah, totally slipped my mind. You really want to go to this _function_?"

"Quinn you say it like it's a chore." Rachel said. Her tone had shifted down.

"I'm just saying it doesn't seem like our scene Rachel, that's all."

"And whats our scene?" Rachel fired back.

**She was getting defensive, of what I didn't have a clue at all. I could either turn this into a disagreement or just go to the event and get through it.**

"Rachel, let's go okay. It sounds fun."

The edge was gone from Rachel's voice, and her tone jumped back to its previous jovial state "That's what I thought! A double date…it's been a while since I've done anything normal Quinn. I think this will be good for us."

**Good for you, I wanted to say. I was going to break into a town home and gather evidence for murder. Instead I'll have to spend it picking out tops for a shindig I didn't even want to be a part of.**

"I'll pick you up at eight."

"Okay…wait Quinn?"

"Yes Rachel." Quinn said in a yes-man type voice.

"I love your flannel look but…can you wear that nice black shirt, the one I got for you?"

"Okay."

"And wear the dark jeans and not those painter paints you got, those things hang off of you. I don't want this girl thinking were just some thrown together…"

"Baby…breathe."

**Baby, it sounded foreign coming from my lips. I didn't even know why it came out of my mouth. It just kind of jumped into our conversation, but it halted Rachel from going into a frenzy.**

"It's just Brittany, okay. I'll pick you up at eight, were going to have a good time don't worry."

"I just want it to go well, and then we could do it more often you know?"

**Fuck.**

"Everything will go smoothly…now…what type of shirt was I supposed to be wearing again…"

"Quinn!"

"I'm kidding, I'll see you later."

"Bye Q."

She disconnected her call and slammed her fist against the steering wheel. She'd have to postpone the kill for now; she couldn't even finish her hunting. Gathering evidence, plotting out schedules, location and timing had to be perfect. She couldn't rush this thing and make a mistake. She started her car and checked the time. She'd have just enough space to finish her paperwork and clock out before she had to go on her very first double date.

_-Lucy-_

**I was outside her house on time. I was a stickler for time and so was she, so we were never late or ever too early. We were always right on time. **

Quinn knocked on her door and she answered. She was stunning in a shortly cropped black dress that seemed to hug her curves in all the right places. Her hair was slightly curved at the ends, her makeup simple and light and to complete the look she had a small black clutch in hand.

"Wow." Quinn stated shortly.

"What?" Rachel said as she tugged on the bottom of her dress. She stopped and looked up at Quinn, a grin slowly emerging on her face. "You like it."

**Loved it.**

"Love it."

**Rachel was the only person that made my internal thoughts rise to the surface.**

The brunette stepped closer and took Quinn's hand. "I'm glad you do. Now let's get going before were late."

After they exited her home, they climbed into her vehicle and began their trip to the restaurant Brittany had told them to meet them at. Quinn slid her hand into Rachel's and raised it up to plant a soft kiss to the back of her knuckles. Rachel returned the sentiment as they continued to drive. She watched Rachel look outside the car window, observing the environment.

**Her eyes sparkled behind the car windows, reflecting flints of light from the city streets. They were the color of a dark rich chocolate and the specks of light made them gloss beautifully. I wondered how long I could stare into them without her thinking I was strange. Her nose was upturned, ever so slightly. Her smile was gentle and sweet. She looked happy, happier than when we first met. Happy with me. That was become more and more frightening every day.**

Quinn let go of her hand.

They finally made it to the restaurant, parked and Quinn helped her out of the car. They walked the short distance to the restaurant arm in arm. The people of Miami were not small minded people, so they didn't stop to stare because two women walked in together. Rachel's beauty just seemed to catch all of their attention at once, she noticed and a blush covered her face.

**I guess this is what pride felt like. I was proud to have her on my arm, of any of the lowly schmucks in Miami she could have entertained. She decided to choose me, and I liked the thought of that.**

While the others in attendance took in Rachel, Quinn observed the restaurant. Cantina 27 was a decently sized restaurant and bar. The décor of the establishment was all white, with gold trimming and screamed upper class but couldn't quite get the recognition to be referenced as so. The prices were too low and the clientele would quickly evaporate if they fluctuated.

This Italian restaurant, unlike most Italian eateries, opted out of the paintings and pictures steeped in history. Instead they went with local painters, abstract in nature to offset the crisp, uniformed look. It worked somehow and the ambience ebbed with brilliant lighting and soft music playing in the background.

"Reservations?" The woman asked menus in hand.

"Pierce, party of four." Rachel said as if she'd done this a thousand times before.

The woman checked her list and grinned. "Right this way." She ushered them forward and showed them to a booth where Brittany and her friend sat.

"I'll be back in a moment for your orders. Would you ladies like a drink to begin?"

"Yes." Quinn said sounding a bit too anxious. "Gin and tonic."

She looked over at Rachel.

"A pomtini please."

"Very well ladies, I'll be back with you drinks and your orders." She turned to Brittany and her friend. "And you ladies?"

"Yes we would like another glass of red wine...in fact just bring the bottle."

**How many dates was this and she was already ordering for Brittany. Already making statements as 'we'?**

"Yes maam'." The waitress ambled off as they all settled in to break the ice.

"You wouldn't happen to be…" Quinn said eyeing her menu. "…trying to get my friend drunk would you?"

Rachel nudged her and grinned.

"Quinn! She is not." Brittany said in her date's defense.

"She's being protective…" The woman notated. "…it's cute." She smirked.

**Cute…did she just reference one of my actions as cute? **

Quinn returned the grin and fully observed the woman. She was pretty enough. Her hair was a dirty, blondish pink that was combed into a messy and shortly cropped ponytail. Her eyes, framed by long lashes, were a bright, emerald-green and seemed to brighten when she glanced over at Brittany. She had a straight nose, full lips and too many bangles on her wrist.

**A hipster. Brittany's dating a fucking hipster.**

"Charlize, this is Quinn and her girlfriend Rachel." Brittany said as she gestured across the table.

Charlize reached across the table, hand extended. "You can call me Charlie."

Rachel took the hand and shook it, after their greeting she swung her hand in Quinn's direction. She hesitated, and then extended her hand. She looked up and into the other woman's eyes and quirked a brow. She released Quinn's hand and returned her arm to Brittany. She was rubbing her shoulder softly and Brittany was nearly tucked under her.

Quinn found it rather distracting. She glanced over at Rachel and she seemed enamored with it all. She decided to change the subject. "So what do you do Charlie?"

"I'm a painter and sometimes I dabble into sculpting." Charlie stated and Brittany rose up a bit in her seat.

"Don't be modest Charlie, she doesn't dabble. She creates." Brittany said beaming at her new love interest. "She's good with her hands…."

"So I'm told." Charlie replied and they both shared a giggle as Brittany leaned over to give her a quick kiss. The kiss stretched for about thirty awkward seconds. The waitress finally arrived with their drinks; she smiled at all in attendance and then placed their respective drinks in front of them.

Quinn didn't waste any time taking a few heavy sips from her gin and tonic.

"How long have you two been going out?" Rachel probed, and then sipped at her drink.

"About a few days." Brittany said and planted kiss to Charlie's chin before she snuggled back underneath her.

**I felt something slide over into my lap. It was Rachel's hand, tightening around my thigh. At first I thought she was sharing my feelings of being caught in hell with Morticia and Gomez over here, but when I looked over she had a completely different look in her eye. **

Quinn gulped.

Rachel must have sensed the awkwardness because her hand quickly withdrew.

"Must be one incredible artist to survive off that alone, right?"

"What is this, an interrogation?" Brittany said floored.

"Brittany, relax. I'd have questions too. It's not my only occupation, but it is a good source of income."

"Must be pretty exciting." Rachel added.

"It most certainly is and with Brittany added to the mix, I think it all got a bit more interesting."

She and Brittany kissed again and this time it was a bit sloppier than before. Rachel cleared her throat and Quinn finished her drink.

"So what's your other occupation?" The brunette wondered aloud.

"Right now I work part time at the zoo…."

**I faded out on her speaking. I couldn't focus because my kill just sauntered into the Cantina, a group of girls surrounding her. She enjoyed the attention, how they scurried and scuffled to gain her favor. They didn't know what I knew, that she didn't like it very much when you didn't fall in line. Every single girl worshipping her was at risk. I could end said risk tonight if I was out in the streets instead of stuck inside of a Cantina being awkwardly groped by my girlfriend, and sitting across the table while my best friend and her hipster date macked on each other's tonsils.**

The food arrived and somehow they made it through dinner. Tidbits about each other's lives and pleasantries got them through the evening. It was the outgoing newcomer Charlie who led the conversation. She delighted Rachel with tales of the animals they nurtured back to good health and Brittany simply seemed to hang on her every word. Quinn halfway listened until the bill came. After the bill was split between Charlie and Quinn each couple walked outside of the restaurant to say their goodbyes.

"It was really lovely meeting you Charlie." Rachel said and gave the girl a small hug.

"It was fun." Quinn added with a stiff nod.

"Pleasures all mine, we should do this more often. There's so much about you I want to know." Charlie said as she wrapped her arm around Brittany's waist and pulled her tighter. Her eyes flicked to Quinn.

"You'll have plenty of time for that…" Brittany said displaying yet another public show of affection. "...but right now you're all mine. Bye guys."

Charlie waved goodbye, practically being drug down the street by Brittany. Quinn walked Rachel to the car. She opened the door for her to duck inside her vehicle and took a moment to cast one last look at the woman, laughing and talking with the people around her.

She smirked.

**Soon.**

_-Lucy-_

**Rachel seemed distracted on the car ride over. She didn't hum along with the music and she certainly had lost the smile she had on earlier. It wasn't anger. I didn't feel that. She seemed almost like she was debating with herself about something.**

Rachel was seated in Quinn's car just like before only her forehead pressed against the car window, her breath fogging the glass in a small circle. When they made it to her home she didn't wait for Quinn to open the door, she was already out and walking. Quinn followed behind her until they reached her doorway. Rachel swung it open and Quinn prepared to say goodnight.

Rachel stood in her doorway the picture of indecisiveness. She kept shifting the door by the handle, backwards and forwards, as if she couldn't decide whether or not she wanted to end the night or not. She looked down at her feet and back up at Quinn, tucking stray hairs behind her ears.

"So…"

"So…" Quinn said as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "That Charlie's something huh'?"

"I like her."

**I'm not surprised.**

"She's okay, I guess."

Silence.

"I'd better get going huh'...see you later." Quinn leaned over and pressed her lips against Rachel's. She smiled and turned to leave. She was halted by a small hand on her elbow. Whatever Rachel was conflicted about, she had made up her mind. She pulled Quinn past her threshold, closed the door and wrapped her arms around her neck. She stood up on the tips of her toes, her lips finding Quinn's and gently forcing them apart with her tongue.

**I was frozen in time. I didn't know how to react. The only thing I knew was that I liked this closeness with her. I liked it a lot.**

Quinn's arms wrapped around her waist and she returned the kiss, her hand running the length of Rachel's torso.

Rachel shivered.

Quinn felt the movement and instinctively pulled back, not wanting to upset her. Rachel ignored her movement and pressed further into her, sucking Quinn's tongue in between her lips. Her kisses began to pick up tenacity as she backed Quinn towards the couch and gently laid her backwards.

Quinn finally got a bit of distance and placed her hands up.

"Rach, slow down."

"I'm tired of slowing down." She half whispered as her lips found Quinn's neck.

The blonde moaned.

Loudly.

"Rachel wait…" She said as her hands found the girls hair and pressed her further into her neck. Despite the action her mouth begged for reason. "Rachel…" Another moan.

**I felt. And it was good. Almost as good as warm blood against my fingertips. **

"Rachel." Quinn said as she scooted further down the couch. "Rachel…what is this all about?"

Rachel's emotion quickly shifted into hurt, Quinn could read it all over her face.

"What is this all about?" She said as she rose from the couch her shoulders hunched in question. "Passion! Emotion! Pleasure perhaps? Maybe I just want to feel wanted okay…" She sighed. "Maybe I just want us to be like other couples Quinn." She shook her head. "The kind that fight…and fuck."

"I know what this all about." Quinn stated as she got up from the couch. "Is this about those two at the Cantina…what are we in now some makeshift competition with them?"

"It's not about competition…it's about being normal!"

"We are normal."

"Really?" She looked around. "This is normal? I practically throw myself at you and you stop to question motive?"

"Isn't that what you would want Rachel. Respect? Just a few days ago you shrank away from me, you withdrew. I only question because there's doubt?"

"Yeah, well I wasn't the only one who shrank away."

Quinn internally gasped.

**She noticed.**

"What's wrong with us...?"

"What do you want to be like those two jokers?" Quinn said as she chuckled and pointed off in a direction as if they were close. "That is a break-up waiting to happen."

"Months! Months we've been going out with one another…you're my girlfriend right? Then why have we never even slept in the same bed together?" She sighed. "We can't even sleep in the same freakin' bed with one another…we haven't even tried."

"What would you rather do, force ourselves into sex because it's 'normal'. That sounds a bit contrived doesn't it?"

**Shit.**

"Contrived? You think I'd…you think I'm…forcing my feelings for you?" She wrapped her arms around her torso and looked away.

She didn't like that look in Rachel's eyes. She hated the fact that her words had put it there. "That was stupid of me to say." The blonde stated as she walked towards her. She almost had her in her arms until she casually stepped back, her eyes never meeting Quinn's.

"Can you go please?" Rachel whispered her voice cracking.

Quinn exited her home with haste and hustled to her car. She sat inside it for a moment before starting it and driving away.

**That went really bad. I'd better get home and go to sleep…before I kill something.**

_-Lucy-_

**After that spat with Rachel I needed to clear my mind. I hadn't spoken to her and I didn't plan on doing so. I needed to get back to my work and not the dayshift either.**

Quinn pulled the second case file from her desk and tossed it open. As she flipped through the pages a new and more gruesome picture showed.

**She was not only a murderer, she was spiteful as well. She mocked the woman's death by mangling her legs. Taking away her competitions dream even in death. **

Quinn's eyes scanned the file, absorbing every loose end, ever area of grey that could have been overlooked. She was recreating the crime scene in her mind. Her victim, Lilly Michelson, must have stayed late; she was last seen in the studio. She was picked up by an unmarked car and the witnesses who saw her get in said she seemed as if she knew the person.

She must have had to, to drive so far out into the woods without suspicion. Judging by the pictures, she must have ran for her life, her fingers were clogged with mud, her body covered in it.

She was found tied to a tree, her leg's broken, her throat slit.

**The bitch hunted her.**

Quinn now needed something to tie her in, she had motive but what was she missing. What could remove all doubt?

**Wait a minute.**

Quinn turned a page in the folder and smirked. The girl made a 911 phone call but the phone was never recovered.

**I'm sure our department thought it was lost in the woods. But I had a feeling someone else had it in their possession. **

"Who's your daddy?"

Quinn snapped the file shut and shoved it back into her drawer, when Jacob cut the corner raising the roof.

"What?"

He walked outside of her office and she followed. Quinn came upon a group of officers strapping on vests, and radios. They were about to move out on someone. The entire time Santana stood in the middle, Sue at her side, barking orders in every direction.

"Listen up!" The Latina yelled. "We know the target he is believed to be armed and dangerous. Be mindful of this fact. We are walking into a den of murderers and we all want to leave alive, stay alert!" She paused to look around at her team gathering together. "Now let's go get the son-of-a-bitch!"

Jacob smirked. "I got a positive ID on the perp." He looked defeated. "What no congratulations!"

"Congratulations Jacob." Quinn said distracted. "Listen; hold things down for me I have an errand to run."

"What getting a little after-noon delight with that hot Jewish piece of ass…"

He was silenced by a slap to the back of his neck. Noah stood behind him and shook his head as Jacob rubbed the sore spot.

"He'll handle it."

Noah said as he passed them both by to join the task force ahead.

Quinn smirked and gathered her things to leave her office.

**Good old Noah.**

_-Lucy-_

She was gone from her little townhome. And it was way too easy for Quinn to get in. She simply walked around back and tested her kitchen window. She made it through with ease and slipped to the floor quietly. Quinn noticed all the trappings of a usual young, single woman's domain. Pictures on the fridge, dishes in the sink and horrible 'self-motivational' plaques slung up on the walls.

She walked closer to the refrigerator and looked closely at one of the photos. It was Joanna, the murderer in question, dressed in some dramatic dancer attire with a group of friends. She looked happy, balanced and friendly. Quinn's eyes darted to the upper right corner of the photo and she noticed someone's face was missing. She had cut out a small circle and Quinn could easily guess whose face should have been there. Her hazel eyes darted back to the murderers smile.

**Just like me the girl could put up a good front. Let's hope for her sake she was just as cleanly.**

Quinn started in the kitchen slowly and carefully pawing through drawers, thinking maybe if she was stupid enough to leave her windows unlocked, maybe she was dumb enough to leave the cell phone in plain sight. After finding nothing in the kitchen, Quinn cut the corner to reach the stairs and came face to face with a hissing cat. His back was arched, his fangs extended.

**To be fair, animals were never really fond of me. Birds scattered, dogs and cats got instantly defensive. They could sense the carnage, they could feel my intentions. **

She walked past it unaffected and climbed the small spiral of stairs. At the top she peeked around and then crept into the woman's room. Clothes were everywhere, empty bottles of water and stale cups of tea littered her room.

**Disgusting.**

Quinn carefully combed the room being mindful to keep the mess in order.

**I found it intriguing how some people could notice a change in such chaos.**

After a long search of each nook and cranny, she had found nothing.

**Maybe she was innocent. Was I wrong this time? **

She sighed and looked down at the ground and then towards the girls closet. She carefully opened one side and found it clear. Sliding in between the piles of clothes stacked in her closet, she searched again to no avail. No phone, no evidence, no kill. She was beginning to grow frustrated.

**I closed my eyes again, searching for that gut feeling, had my instincts abandoned me?**

Her eyes popped open and spotted a small crack in the ceiling,

**That's how it always began when unraveling a murder. A small crack…a chip…a chink in the armor.**

She used a gloved hand to reach up to the ceiling and push away a small piece of sheet rock. She felt around and her hand felt something solid. She clutched it and brought it down to eye level.

**A cell phone. Same make and model as the vic. Stained with blood. Guilty as charged.**

Quinn pocketed the cell phone and made sure to place the piece of sheetrock exactly as she had found it. After a quick and timely exit, she was back in her car again, heading towards the hardware store.

**I had found the missing link. After a few tests I would find out whose blood was on the phone. The one thing that brought it all together. Now it was time to complete the circle.**

_-Lucy-_

Quinn walked inside of the Miami Metro Police department. Her usual smile was in place; she passed by her co-workers and stopped for idle chatter. But if they looked beyond the façade they could probably see she was distracted. She was robotic in movement, even more so than usual.

**I wasn't myself. I hadn't completed the ritual in over 72 hours. I sat up all night staring at my slides and that head. The head that was left for me to find. My 'friend' had been quiet. No hints, no murders, just silence. Without Rachel and despite the blood slides I had stared at for hours…without some kind of distraction I almost left a sign of my own. I wanted to draw whomever it was out, I wanted them to know they were…inspiring and despite the gruesome coverage from the media. Despite the saddened ladies of the night and frightened community members. Someone out there saw the time and effort. Someone was a fan.**

Halfway to her office, a sudden commotion grabbed her attention. It was Sue. Sue had swiped everything clean off her desk surface and was out of her seat, yelling at the top of her lungs. Noah was trying to calm her down and Jacob was recording it on his cell phone.

"What the fuck!" Santana stormed past Quinn her bag still slung over her shoulder. She stuffed all her belonging into Quinn's arms and continued past until she stood beside Sue.

"Goddamnit Sue, what is this?"

"What is this?" The older woman said as she slammed her fist down on her now bare desk. "This is what happens when you waste time with bull-shit like 'incarcerated persons' rights. What about the rights of the young woman he blew to fucking hell. If we never let up and let him rest this would have never went down!"

"Sue." Santana said as she motioned towards her office. "Let's talk about it…"

"No!" She looked around the department, her finger waggling at each and every soul present. "This system is a piece of shit. And I'm not saying this because something didn't go my way either." Sue sighed and ran her hand through shortly cropped blondish grey hair.

"I say this from years and year of experience with this happening." She said with a laugh. "This system is fucking corrupted! It is rotten to the core, to the very seedling it sprouted from. Somewhere along the line we forgot…" She pointed to her chest with fervor. "That we are the good guys. You and me. We neglect our lives, we neglect our families, and we neglect reality because we believe in this…thing…this driving force of good. It's all BULLSHIT!"

"Detective Sylvester." Santana's tolerance of her behavior had run thin. She pointed towards her office, dark brown eyes burning with impatience. "We'll discuss the further in private."

"I don't need to talk…I need a drink." Sue grabbed her keys from the floor and pushed past her audience until she was out the door.

Silence filled the room.

"Somebody clean this shit up!" Santana yelled as she stepped around the mess Sue left. Her voice sent everything back into motion. Officers and detectives alike scattered.

"Fabray, Puckerman my office…now!" Santana yelled as she slammed her door.

Noah shrugged and walked over to Quinn. "I don't want go in there." He said as he loosened his tie. "I'm so not taking the brunt of Sue's menopause fueled rant."

"If we don't go she'll just come find us."

"Not if we run away and join the circus."

"Too late…" Quinn said her arms still brimmed with Santana's belongings.

"You're right…all we needed was a couple of shitting elephants and stale popcorn."

They both decided to face the music and walked over to Santana's office. Inside, the Lieutenant was at her desk flipping through a file like she had a grudge against it.

Quinn placed Santana's things on her office couch and both she and Noah stood silent until Santana looked up from the folder.

"Took you two long a-fucking nuff'." She cut her eyes up at them and stood from her seat. "Sue's perp got murdered in lock-up."

"What?" Noah said his own outrage showing. "That guy was pretty high-up, he could have rolled over on that entire gang."

"Don't you think I know that Puckerman." Santana said as she folded her arms across her chest. "That's why Sue's upset, he was killed right there in jail and nobody has any clue how it got done."

Quinn's mind scanned. "Only a guard could kill someone with not a stitch of evidence left behind."

"Thus, the rant." Santana sighed. "Este trabajo será la muerte de mí." The Lieutenant said rapid fire.

"All do respect boss, but what do we have to do with any of this?"

**He took the words right out of my mouth. I had plans to attend to. Big plans.**

"I need you to keep an eye on her Noah." Santana said as she walked over to the window. She cracked the blinds and peeked between the cracks before shutting them again.

"Maam' I'm a detective not a baby-sitter."

"You'll be whatever the fuck I say Noah." Santana said her back turned to him. She turned and walked closer to them. "People write Sue off as crazy, I was her partner for years. Sometimes people just confuse passion with insanity."

**I could agree with that.**

"And me?"

"You do the same Fabray."

"What do you want me to do hold her hand while she crosses the street?"

"Don't be a smart ass Puckerman. Just be…I don't know on watch. If anyone else in higher rank saw that display they'd have her ass evaluated. She's getting older guys...they might force retirement…I know her…." Noah didn't hear the last part of Santana's statement but Quinn did. "…it would kill her."

**Santana cared. Something she tried so hard to cover, but she was only playing at being cold. I was living it.**

"I don't want to say that's an order…hell…" The Latina sighed. "I can't...but I'd appreciate the favor."

"I'll do it." Noah said.

**What a sucker for the babes.**

"It might not be easy, but you can count on me Lieutenant." Quinn added.

Santana confirmed her appreciation with a brief nod.

Quinn's phone interrupted their makeshift meeting.

**Brittany.**

She answered.

"Hey…"

"Don't say a word; meet me at 11th _Street_ & Washington Avenue. It's him."

She hung up.

Quinn pointed at her phone awkwardly. "I gotta' run boss."

Santana looked at her in doubt. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Rachel needs a ride."

**I lied.**

"Alright Fabray."

Quinn exited the office and flew down to her car, violating several laws to get to her friend. She wasn't talking about Brittany either.

_-Lucy-_

She parked behind Brittany's patrol car and walked over to the blonde who was peeking around a corner. She sunk in behind her and spoke.

"What are we looking at?"

Brittany nearly jumped two feet into the air.

"Fuck Quinn!" She settled from the surprise. "You scared the shit out me."

"What going on?" Quinn said hurriedly. "What did you find? Did you see him? Is he here?"

"You sound like a groupie." Brittany shook off her friend's excitement and turned her attention to a parked truck diagonal to them.

Quinn followed her line of sight and spotted a truck across the way. Despite having no passenger, it was still running. In the back, water treatment supplies.

"You think it's…"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you call it in?"

"Because I wanted us to have a look first. C'mon."

The two women crossed the street and approached the truck. Brittany started from the back her hand on the handle of her gun in its holster. She inspected the vehicle and removed her hand.

"Clear."

Quinn moved in, cautiously lifting the handle with the edge of her shirt. She and Brittany stood on the passenger side looking around the truck for any immediate clues. Quinn spotted a jar on the driver side floor.

"What is that?" Brittany said as she leaned over for a closer view. "Looks like a fucking humongous pickle jar.

Quinn leaned even closer and paused to take in her surroundings.

**He or whoever it was had been here. They had taken the time to set this up to be found. They wanted the police department to find something new.**

**She finally saw what was in the jar. It was a human head. Her face decked out in a large amount of makeup. It smudged in the water but I knew what it meant. My friend had left another clue for me; this head resembled the dolls head left in my apartment. I was officially impressed.**

Brittany dry heaved. "Is that a fucking head?"

**I nearly shouted at her. This wasn't meant for her, this was meant for me. I didn't like the fact that I was sharing this moment. It was mine and mine alone.**

"I'm calling it in." Brittany said as she reached for her radio.

Moments after the call a swarm of officers arrived on the scene. Brittany didn't say a word about what they had seen. She didn't plan on mentioning she had tipped of Quinn before the Lieutenant either.

Quinn stood back and watched them nearly chop the vehicle down.

**They were looking for evidence. I almost wanted to laugh. They would find and inch, that's why I didn't even bother. No one would go through all this trouble to be tied in with a misplaced fingerprint or a loose follicle. Too much time to blow on being sloppy. This killer was anything but. The doll, the human head…what did it all mean? What was I supposed to know? I was being left morsels when I hungered for a feast. **

Brittany walked over to Quinn and stood beside her.

"I was right Quinn…I was fucking right, there's no way that can be denied."

**I?**

"There it all is, head, cleaning supplies…freakin chlorine! It's all there Quinn; this has got to be my ticket to detective."

Santana walked side by side with Captain Will Schuester. He was handsome enough, with puffy well manicured hair and deep dimples. He looked a bit weathered despite his youth, early laugh lines creased his face and there were crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. He wore a cleanly pressed suit and tie, even in the Miami heat. He was constantly on the move so they rarely saw him, but when he was around he made it a point to be seen. He shifted his sight from the Lieutenant and began making his way over to Brittany.

"Officer Pierce, first to report. Hear this was linked to a lead…a lead ignored by your Lieutenant."

**If looks could kill Santana was shooting Brittany at point blank range.**

"Not ignored, just pushed aside for hard evidence."

"Theory is very crucial to this line of work…and instinct." He shook Brittany's hand. "You truly are your father's daughter. I'm impressed." William walked off and joined Noah by the evidence van.

Brittany's celebration was cut short.

"How did you get here so quickly Fabray?" Santana questioned.

"I was close by."

"Close enough from dropping off Rachel and making it here before us?"

**Shit.**

Her glare shifted to Brittany. "Next time you break the chain of command, I will have your badge! You don't call your besty when you are the first to report, you call **me**. You do know who I am right?"

Brittany upset, turned away.

"I'm your Lieutenant; I'm the person you call when a lead comes through. So the next time you even feel like you may be on to something I'd better be the first person on your mind."

"Yes maam'."

"That was completely unprofessional. Father's daughter my ass."

Brittany didn't stick around for the departing insult she turned away. Quinn could see her frustration growing. She couldn't help the look she shot Santana; it seemed to even catch her superior off guard.

**She had no right. She had no right to cut her down. But I saw something there on her face buried under her anger. It was a shimmer of regret.**

Quinn went after her friend who was now leaning against her patrol car, her arms folded across her chest. Quinn mimicked her position and the two stood in tandem silence. Quinn, arms still folded, used her elbow to nudge Brittany. She shifted away and Quinn nudged her again.

"I fucking hate that bitch." Quinn said and laughed.

"Hate is such a strong word Quinn." Brittany said with a smirk, mocking Quinn's own words.

"Well, I strongly dislike that fucking bitch." Quinn said as she rested her head on her friends shoulder briefly.

Brittany lifted from her funk stood straight up and clasped her hands. "Did the captain just tell me I was my father's daughter? Did he just say and I quote, 'he was impressed.'"

"No, I think I missed that one actually…"

"Don't be a douche! He did!" She blurted then sighed in contentment. "This is my shot Quinn, this is it."

Quinn placed a hand on her friends shoulder and squeezed slightly. "No one deserves it more Britt, not a single soul."

"So…you going to explain why you were such an ass to Charlie?"

**I hadn't honestly thought twice about the girl since meeting her.**

"She really liked you Quinn, you totally blew her off the entire dinner."

"I did not."

**I had other things on my mind.**

"Yes you did. She really wants to get to know you Quinn, she knows how much you mean to me. Can you just…try?"

Quinn huffed.

"Please…" Brittany whined in a school girl's voice. "...for me?"

"What do you want me to do Britt?"

"Just, try to be open to her okay. I didn't give you any shit about Rachel, I trusted her with my best fucking friend in the entire world and you guys are so perfect."

**That was objective.**

"Can't you do the same for me?" Brittany questioned.

**I wasn't one for making friends. The few I had were out of necessity not choice. I cared for Brittany, true enough, but she would always come second place to the ritual.**

"Okay, okay. I'll try."

"Good."

Brittany's phone rang and she checked the ID.

"It's Charlie."

"Take it; I'm out of here anyway." Quinn said as she removed her keys from her pocket.

"Okay…btw. Call your fucking girlfriend. She's burning all my minutes checking up on you." Brittany didn't even say goodbye, she just flew off into Charlie land.

**I wasn't calling Rachel. Somehow we'd begin to talk it out and I would find myself burning another evening away from my work. Away from the blood. My one true love. Even Rachel would always finish second in comparison.**

_-Lucy-_

Quinn had decided to take a different approach to this kill. Given the past few days she wanted to make sure this was tactfully done. She had studied a blue print and layout of the building and her truck waited by the exit point. The second to last doorway Joanna would ever cross alive.

Quinn stood outside the studio shrouded in shadow. She had on her kill suit. Fitted cargos, long sleeve shirt and dark black gloves.

**I had decided I would hunt her. Scare her just a little. I wasn't some stereotypical horror movie antagonist but she should feel what she made the other woman feel. The desperation. The fear.**

"_Get down." Russell Fabray whispered as he tucked his back against a large tree. A young slightly chubby Lucy Fabray followed his lead._

_Russell's eyes shifted around the wooded area watching and waiting for signs of the prey they were hunting. He ducked back down and looked over at Lucy._

"_Tell me right now, without looking, what just moved about 12 feet down the brush?"_

"_I...I don't know."_

"_Not expectable Lucy, you must be alert and attentive. Now focus and tell me."_

_Lucy closed her eyes, her lips clamped shut. She sighed and then took a sharp breath listening carefully to the scenery around her and her father._

"_It's heavy dad." She squirmed trying to train her mind to visualize it. "The foot falls are heavy, short spaced…it's something short and stubby. But quick."_

"_Good." He patted her shoulder and grinned. "Very good."_

"_It knows were here…it's scared." She added as she opened her eyes. "It's moving differently…."_

"_Fear." Her father said as he stood quietly. He helped his daughter up and brandished two knives. He held one out to her and she took it hesitantly. She had killed animals before but never with someone. Especially her dad. _

"_What do you do to something that's scared Lucy?"_

"_You use the fear against them."_

"_Very good. Now what do we do next?"_

_Quinn nibbled on her bottom lip and tucked her knife back behind her wrist. "We move in for the kill."_

"_No."_

_The bass in her father's voice caused her eyes to cast down. _

"_You are too eager to kill Lucy. Think of it this way. If you rush at something that is afraid what does it do?"_

"_Runs?" She answered in half doubt._

"_True." He stopped and stooped a bit to speak to her. "Yes, it will run but what happens when people are terrified, they get defensive. They want to fight. Their senses…" He said as he motioned in the air with his knife. "…are heightened. So you don't use the fear to rush into the kill Lucy, you use the fear to open the gateway of hopelessness. You circle them and coax them into giving up and once they are trapped and defeated..."_

_He jabbed the knife forward into the air. "…you kill. Now." He tucked his own knife away. "Find your mark, circle it, use the fear to trap it and then…end it."_

_Lucy was off in an instant. A part of her wanting to make her father proud, the other giddy with the anticipation of blood._

_She took a rigid right turn in the woods and stopped, her ears twitching with each sound of the animal in the distance. She curbed around and spotted her 'mark', she used her presence to goad it to take a dip backwards._

_The animal snorted and took off full speed until she cut across the path and made it dart back to its left. The animal all but boxed in by her movement, hurdled right down the center of the woods. Lucy screeched to a halt when she heard the trap snap and the animal begin to cry. She arrived near the sounds of struggle to see her father. He clapped twice and looked up at the wild boar, twisting and turning in the air, hung by its foot._

"_Perfectly executed Quinn. Quick, concise and followed to the letter." Russell began to saw at the rope that had the pig suspended in the air. "Your first hunt."_

_He lowered the pig just below ground level and motioned for Quinn to finish it. She dove on top of the pig and rode the bucking beast until she could get a good grip on its throat and her knife. She zipped the sharpened blade across its throat and after a few more seconds of movement, the pig went still. She hurriedly flipped it over and watched the blood flow and meld with the coarse brown fur. She watched the dark red liquid slide past its body and seep into the earth around it._

_Her father approached her but she looked up at him, her eyes different than before. She saw her father for the first time, shrink away from her._

_Lucy raised the knife again and sawed the animals chest open, marveling at its insides. She pressed her hand inside and pulled out its warm, fleshy heart._

"_Why am I like this?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the organ. "Why do I want to do this?"_

"_I don't know Quinn." Russell said as he shook his head._

"_Am I…bad?"_

"_No!" He shouted and dropped down to his knees beside his daughter. "Lucy, baby girl, nothing about you is bad."_

"_Other people don't do this dad…normal people…"_

"_Why aren't you normal?"_

"_You know why!" The sudden inflection in her voice cut through the gentle brush of tree branches. "Tell me how this happened…tell me what I've come from that would make me like this."_

"_When you are ready to know Lucy, I will tell you. For now this doesn't make you anything but who you are." He spread his arms widely. "This is where you can be yourself Lucy, out here with me. That doesn't make you dissimilar Lucy, it makes you different. In a world where people see right and wrong, black and white, you and me Quinn…we see the grey. That makes you…Lucy Fabray…special."_

_She dropped the heart and her father came a bit closer, wiping her cheeks. Lucy for a brief moment pondered about how other fathers wiped the tears from their young children's faces, while hers was cleaning off blood._

Her memory was cut short by Joanna's friend exiting the studio building. She was the last one in the building now. No cars were out front, or back and all she saw was the dim glow of the last studio that was occupied. After her friends had been gone for a decent amount of time, Quin entered the building.

_-Lucy-_

Joanna tossed a water bottle to the floor and admired her figure in the studio mirrors. She grinned. She still had it. Nobody was fit enough, well enough or dedicated enough to take her spot. She would always be number one. She walked over to the stereo and flicked through a music selection. Everyone was gone and she could wind down with a fun little dance number.

She hit play and 'Billy Idol's' dancing with myself began to play. She rocked slightly to the opening guitar riff and began to get into a rhythm when the lights went out cutting the music and shrouding her in darkness.

"For fuck sake!" She grumbled and felt her way to the storage closet for a flashlight. She turned it on and decided she'd make her way to the breaker room to fix the lights. She had done it before and she wasn't ready to turn in just yet. Sometimes her actions weighed heavily on her mind despite her moving forward in her life. Murder was a heavy burden after all.

She entered the hallway and made her way down. Behind her she heard scattered movement.

"Hello?" She said as she turned the flashlight in the sounds direction. She sighed; she really needed to lay off the Red Bull. She turned right and ahead of her she heard more movement.

"Hello!" She laughed. "Guys this isn't funny, stop fucking around!" Her nervousness was starting to rise. She kept going wearily and was halted by movement to her left. This time her flashlight caught a flash of a body. She screamed shrilly and the backup lights came on, bringing back the loudly playing music in the distance.

_On the floors of Tokyo__  
Down in London town's a go-go__  
With the record selection__  
And the mirror's reflection__  
I'm a-dancing with myself_

Joanna screeched to a halt when she saw the reflection of a woman. Her face was grave ad dark and terrifying. She bolted towards the entrance and found it barred. She yelled again and kicked at the door but it didn't give.

_Oh, when there's no one else in sight__  
In the crowded, lonely night__  
Well, I wait so long for my love vibration__  
And I'm dancing with myself_

She was back at the center of the building again either the person after her was quick or her mind was beginning to play tricks on her.

_Oh, oh, oh dancing with myself__  
Oh, oh, oh dancing with myself_

She looked left.

_Well there's nothing to lose__  
And there's nothing to prove_

She panicked and looked to the right.

_And I'm dancing with myself__  
Oh, oh, oh, oh_

She heard her name whispered behind her and sprinted back down the buildings hallway, the stairs to the basement in her line of sight.

_If I looked all over the world__  
And there's every type of girl__  
But your empty eyes seem to pass me by__  
And leave me dancing with myself_

Movement ahead caused her to detour into a nearby room and hide in a closet. The music still played in the hallway and she hoped it disguised her entrance into the room. It hadn't. She saw the shadowy figure pace the room she was in and closed her eyes, trying not to breathe too loudly.

The person lingered and then fled the room and Joanna let out a soft whimper. She couldn't stay in this closet. Eventually she'd be found. After a moment of debate she barreled from the closet and back out into the halls. She spotted the stairwell door and nearly fell as she pushed through it, the song behind her eerily about to reach its end.

_So let's sink another drink__  
'Cause it'll give me time to think__  
If I had a chance_

The beat dropped as she hit the first step.

_I'd ask the world to dance__  
And I'd be dancing with myself_

She stutter stepped.

_Oh, oh, oh dancing with myself__  
Oh, oh, oh dancing with myself_

She could see the glowing sign of the back exit as she approached the middle of the stairs. Just a few more steps and she was out of here. A few more steps to safety.

_If I had a chance, I'd ask the world to dance_

She hit the bottom of the stairs and sprinted towards the exit door.

_If I had a chance, I'd ask the world to dance_

She reached the door handle and yanked it open, ready to run.

_If I had a chance, I'd ask the world to dance_

Before she could make a break for it she felt hands in her hair and a sharp prick to her neck. She struggled then felt woozy and dropped to her back. She looked up for a moment and in her haze saw the blonde woman from the mirror and then blacked out.

_Oh, oh, oh, oh__._

_-Lucy-_

**I had used my first hunting tactics to draw her into my trap. I needed her by the back exit so I could haul her body to my truck with ease and out of plain sight. After returning the studio back to its normal order I drove her to an abandoned factory where I would follow my father's directions…and end it.**

Johanna began to come to and shouted.

"Shut your mouth Johanna. Don't make this harder on yourself."

"What…why are you doing this to me?"

**That never got old.**

Johanna was suspended in the air by four straps attached to both her arms and legs. She was splayed in between two old sturdy pipes. Her body positioned over an old drainage hole.

"Jealousy!" Quinn shouted as she sparked a road flare. She tossed it into a dark corner and it illuminated two pictures of Joanna's victim. Quinn scowled at the woman in front of her. "I'm not a fan of emotions altogether but jealousy…I despise it. Ask me why?"

"Are you insane?" The girl stammered and struggled with her bonds.

"That's not what I asked you to ask me Johanna…play along."

"Please lady I swear, I swear I won't tell anyone. I swear it."

Quinn snapped. "I said play a-fucking long Joanna. Ask me why?"

"Why?" The girl shouted her throat clogged with emotion.

"Because it's vile and tasteless. " She scoffed. "Jealousy."

Quinn neared the pictures and waved her hand in front of them. "It spawns doubt and suspicion and it loiters in your heart until…until…" She smirked. "…you kill."

Quinn walked over to a workbench and picked up a knife.

"You couldn't stand it could you, the way she shined. It literally made you feel pain to watch her ascension. She was better than you, you know that right."

"No she wasn't!" Joanna was a blubbering mess but even in that was angered by the question of her talent. "I was always better…I'll always be better!"

"Because she'll never get the chance. " Quinn added.

"She was fake; she was a fraud and a phony. She was little miss sunshine!" Joanna spat. "Do you know how hard I worked to stay number one, bitch. Do you know the dedication and time I spent on being the best. To let some, wet behind the ears country, no class bitch come in and dethrone me!" She laughed. "Over my dead body!"

"Okay." Quinn walked over to her with the knife and naturally she screamed. Quinn ignored her cries and slashed her face collecting blood on her slide.

_It was…enthralling. _

She closed the slide and backed away from Joanna, her eyes fixated on the blood in front of her.

_It had been so long. Too long since I've had a moment like this. Everything vanished from my mind evaporated into thin air as I clutched the glass. I had to focus, this was just the appetizer._

Quinn looked around and double checked her paint spatter guards. They were fastened and in the correct place. The rest she could wash down the drainage hole. After she put her parting gift away her eyes trained onto Joanna. She ran her hands along her legs.

"Dancers…" She tightened around her knee. "…have the most amazing legs." Quinn placed on her apron and safety goggles over her eyes. She looked like a mad scientist with the tufts of blonde shooting up from the tight straps.

"You broke her legs…you beat them, while she was still alive. Do you know how much pain she was in?"

"I did."

**A confession. So soon.**

"I beat them and smashed them with a rock I found in the woods. She wouldn't stop...yelling...so I…"

"Slit her throat."

"Yes…now ask me why." Joanna said defiant even in the face of death.

"Why?" Quinn questioned.

"The bitch had it coming." Joanna reared her head back in laughter. It was cut short by the sound of a chainsaw starting.

"And what is killing me going to do huh'…bring her back? Right the injustices of the world. I call bullshit! The world we live in is about competition. Survival of the fittest…she didn't survive…"

Her speech was ended with the first dig of the chain saw, right above her knee. Quinn didn't cut through fast either, she went slowly. Blood pelted the plastic around them like raindrops. Quinn watched the red liquid spurt and spray, misty and bold. It reminded her of sparklers. The flame-the chainsaw, igniting the limb into tiny red glints.

As she neared the center of the lower thigh the shower became a torrential downpour. The girl's cries became even louder as she witnessed her own limb finally fall free to the ground. She wiggled her bloody stump, her face pale from the blood loss.

She started in on the other leg and halfway through she began to see the girl fade. She watched her face twist in agony, as her second member fell to the floor beneath her.

Quinn stepped back and watched her whip wildly, her legs draining, sometimes even spurting if she tried to move them.

She shuddered.

**Blood was everywhere. On the ground. On the plastic. Everywhere. I watched it all around me slinking and sliding. I placed my gloved hand into one of the puddles and felt a tingle up my spine. I looked up and saw her fade into oblivion. The ritual was complete.**

Quinn cleaned up, packed up and was on Ann Teak headed out to dispose the body. She still had on her kill suit. Minus the apron and goggles. The loose parts of her cargo pants flapped in the wind as she steered through the water.

**After the ritual my mind was usually a blank slate. A reboot from the daytime gig. A moment to be Lucy.**

She found a perfect location and began sending the bags of limbs and wrappings down one by one.

**Something kept edging into my mind.**

She grunted and focused on the task at hand. After she had disposed of the evidence she sat down on the edge of the boat and sighed.

**I knew what had not cleared away. It was Rachel. I hadn't given the nagging thoughts much attention because I figured it was just me being tense from not being able to fulfill my desires to kill. I thought once I had completed the ritual she and all my other thoughts would vanish. **

Quinn flipped open her phone and selected a picture of Rachel.

**I was wrong. And normally others would smile if they began to realize something mattered to them. I nearly smashed the phone. I couldn't let this…this feeling get in the way. Rachel was needed to keep the façade going. To keep the world from questioning. And then it dawned on me. That's why I was so focused on Rachel. It wasn't emotion; it was my instinct telling me to keep her close. Or so I hoped. **

_-Lucy-_

Quinn texted Rachel and told her to meet her in the park. She decided to mend the gap in between her and Rachel with a show of grandeur. Rachel was a sucker for romantic comedies and old-fashioned romance, so Quinn played into it. She had made a makeshift picnic for two, complete with barbecue pomegranate tofu and blended watermelon iced tea.

**I saw Rachel from a far, she looked kind of upset. As she got closer and closer I saw her try to hold on to her frown but she couldn't help the curve of a smile that was forming on her face. Her smile always made me smile.**

Rachel approached and sat down on the far end of picnic spread, crossing her legs underneath her.

"Hi."

**It's the best I could do.**

"Hi." She said with an added wave. "This is nice."

"I'm glad you like it…I've got some…"

"Don't you think we should talk Quinn...about…what happened."

**Damnit. I thought the picnic would do it.**

"Maybe?" The blonde said as she hunched her shoulders.

Rachel got up to leave and Quinn wobbled over on her knees to catch her hand. "I miss you."

Rachel turned, her brown eyes set on Quinn's.

"I'm an asshole." Quinn laughed as Rachel's stern face followed suit. "I didn't mean to call what we have…or will have contrived…or fake or false. I've been jumbled around these past few days but, one thing has always remained. You." Quinn gripped her hand a bit tighter.

**Okay brain. You can shut up now.**

"I should have called, or came by or spoke to you. The truth is I feel terrible…I could have handled that better and I didn't. I screwed up."

Sincerity beamed from Quinn's eyes and Rachel nearly tackled her to the picnic blanket beneath them.

"I was an asshole too." Rachel spoke in between kisses to Quinn's face. "I was…I was pushing because…" She paused from the kisses and sighed. She rolled to Quinn's side and ducked underneath it. Quinn surprisingly comfortable with the idea, shifted to let her in and they spoke, forehead to forehead.

"…I was pushing because I want us to work. Quinn I feel myself growing closer to you every day. I know we don't have to rush into anything but…aren't we a little weird?"

"Define weird."

Rachel laughed. "We barely…make-out, you've never slept over. This is the closest we've got to spooning." She sighed. "People would consider that weird."

"If Brittany and Charlie are normal than I don't want it." She pressed a kiss to Rachel's lips. "I like it when you're all mine and I don't have to share you with any prying eyes. I don't need a crowd to show you how I feel about you. As for how we interact, I think it's all about taking our time. Taking it slow and making it last. I want you forever…"

**Okay brain, fuck you.**

"…not for one hot sweaty moment. We aren't weird, were just a deviation from the norm."

"Really?" Rachel said in amusement. "That sounds attractive."

Quinn laughed. "What I mean is our weirdness makes its own rules, so we don't have to follow the 'normal' ones. Our differences allow us the time necessary to grow a relationship, not build one. It makes us…special."

"I think I like the sound of that." Rachel kissed her nose and snuggled in closer. "But Quinn?"

"Yes?"

"Don't think that whole speech is getting you out of any more double dates or outings. We need to get out more. Watching movies and staying in is fine, but Brittany and I talked and were going to be hanging out with them a lot more. Charlie's got some art she's displaying and Brittany wants to go to the beach. And much, much more. So despite the comforting words, you'd better be ready to pick a date okay!"

Quinn leaned upwards and kissed the brunettes forehead as she spoke. "I pick you."

Rachel shifted back with a smile. "I meant dates as in days Quinn Fabray."

"Just wanted you to know."

**Rachel continued listing outings beside me. I had delayed advancements for us now. I realized what I had noticed about Rachel in the car, in that dress, she was coming into herself again. She was shaking her past and ready to push our relationship to another level intimately. To another level entirely. Problem was I wasn't sure if I was capable of going there.**

Quinn felt something. A presence. As Rachel spoke Quinn shifted her eyes to the side. She saw something in the tree above them. She couldn't make it out but with a tight squint she saw what the small form was. It was a miniature sized artist mannequin, the legs were cut off.

**My friend had visited me. So close. And I, so wrapped up in Rachel never noticed anyone approach; never felt the presence of another. Never even saw it coming. Her back was turned to the tree; no way they got a look at her. I was relieved lest my friend try to pull her into this. But something in me felt that this was in good nature. I didn't feel threatened or in danger. **

Quinn looked up at the sky.

**They wanted me to know again, that they were watching. They saw my work and were daunted enough to send me another clue. It didn't bother me. I was glad. Now we knew about each other. **

*Credit Outro – Midnight Rambler -"The Rolling Stones"*


	4. Close to You

Hey guys, very sorry for the delay. I've had a bit of change going on but I found time to update this story. Thanks for the continued support as always. Thanks Em for the nudge. ;)

*Theme music - The Constancy Part 2*

Intro:

Quinn walks from her apartment as if it was an ordinary day. She waves to her neighbor and continues down the steps of her apartment, her movements sliding into slow motion.

As she hits the streets a blood drop falls from the sky and plants itself firmly beside her on the pavement. She continues to walk as more of the viscous liquid pours from the sky. She causally bats some off of her brow as the city goers around her shield themselves from the rain. One man stalks past her, a newspaper over his head protecting him from the bloody downpour. As he passes Quinn she watches him walk away and then notices two children splashing about in the blood as if they were frolicking in normal rain water.

She looks to her right and a dog is briskly shaking off the blood, its velvet drops cascading in sprinkles off his coat.

No one seems to notice the red colored droplets but Quinn. She walks down the street a bit and extends a hand, letting the blood pool and drop from in between her fingertips. Others continue by her, finishing their daily routine but Quinn watches the blood collect in her palm then looks up, a satisfied grin sitting securely on her face.*

4 - 'Close to You'

**I enjoyed my days off, usually I spent them plotting or hunting well…**

She smirked when she looked over at Rachel, blowing steam from the top of her coffee cup to take a sip.

…**.that was before I met Rachel.**

She watched the girl readjust her cleaning gloves and commence the scrubbing of her sink and counter tops. She was humming along to an old tune on her CD player.

**I liked watching her do things. Minute things that to any other person would seem boring or plain. I liked to watch her tiny, sturdy arms move with quick strokes when she scrubbed. I liked the stray hairs that fell down her neck, when she reached a stubborn spot. I just enjoyed watching her and I'm surprised she didn't find it strange at all. Here I was enthralled by every single motion she made. She was a moving painting. I could watch her just be, all day.**

"What?" Rachel said a small smirk on the corner of her lips.

**You're staring again.**

"You missed a spot."

Rachel stuck out her tongue playfully and went back to meticulously cleaning her counter.

**Cleanliness, I guess order was a turn on for me. I have turn ons? The next thing you know I'll be reading those awful magazine with 'Fifty Ways to Please Your Man' in bold lettering on the cover.**

"I have something to tell you Quinn." Rachel said removing her gloves.

**The snap was all too familiar sound; the blood was never far away.**

Rachel tossed them on the table and linked her fingers under her chin. "I have an audition."

Quinn placed her cup down and smiled broadly. "What for?"

"Well the community theatre group is doing Chicago, I was thinking about auditioning as Roxy…but…"

"But what?" Quinn said quirking a brow.

"But…I don't know. This is going to be pretty huge, It's a combined community effort so were branching out this time to local counties. There are going to be a lot more people auditioning and I…"

"Rachel." Quinn moved to a seat closer to her.

**I almost touched her hand. Almost.**

"Rachel, why are you even pretending that you're not good enough to nail this role? You are without a shadow of a doubt the best singer I've ever heard in my life."

"Don't be silly...I made you listen to Barbra."

"Barbra schmarbra."

Rachel pointed a finger at her playfully. "What is the number one rule of my domicile?"

Quinn sighed. "Thou shall not insult Barbara."

"I'll let it slide, because you are so darn cute." Rachel said leaning over to plant a sweet kiss to Quinn's lips, pulling back with a soft smack. "I'm going to go for it! You're going to come with me right? To the audition?"

**Fuck.**

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Promise?"

**Fuck, fuck, fuckiitty, fuck, and Fuck. **

"Promise."

Rachel smiled but it faded quickly when her dark brown eyes settled onto Quinn's.

**I know that look anywhere. It's the 'you know so much about me but I know nothing about you look'.**

"Quinn honestly, I know we spend a lot of time together but…I was kind of wondering…"

**Here it comes.**

"What do you do when you are not with me? What are your hobbies?"

**Told ya'.**

Quinn wasn't prepared. She could prep a kill scene with her eyes closed, hunt a girl down in a magnificent display of both cunning and stealth but answering questions about her personal life always left her stumbling.

**Now I know how Romney felt when they asked about his tax returns.**

She used a quick sip of coffee to collect her thoughts.

"_**I murder people Rachel."**_

_**Rachel laughed heartily and shook her head. "Are you that desperate to remain a mystery?"**_

"_**No." Quinn's eyes looked the same but there was something darker there. Something that made Rachel look away and doubt this person, this stranger she spent her days with. She could see the confusion in her eyes, the confusion of noticing that those old familiar pupils belonged to a different person. Lucy had decided to come out of the darkness and meet the brunette who sat beside her.**_

"_**I hunt Rachel." She said coldly. She closed her eyes and ran her finger along the rim of her cup.**_

"_**I hunt down the dregs of society, murderers, rapist, pedophiles and any combination of the sort and you know what I do." Her finger stopped and she looked back into Rachel's eyes, and saw the woman shrink away. "I kill them." Lucy grinned. "But I don't just kill them Rachel…I set up intricate scenes that make them feel like the innocent person they ripped from earth too soon….I…"**_

_**She stopped a moment to calm the excitement inside her. "Oh you should see it; I find the most ornate tools to make the blood flow. I'm obsessed with it. I touch it and Rachel…." She takes in a sharp breath in between her teeth. "…it makes me feel alive. In ways you can never make me feel, it's like being born again. Born in blood."**_

"Quinn?" Rachel said and reached over to shake Quinn slightly.

Quinn snapped back into reality and smiled. "I'm a…collector."

"Of what?" Rachel said even more interested.

**Of death.**

"Sailing gear, and um all things related."

"Really?" Rachel said with slight giggle. "I didn't take you as the type."

"Well…I kind of have a boat."

**Stupid, stupid, stupid.**

"You have a boat!" Rachel said excitedly. "And this is the first time I hear about it?"

"Didn't think you'd be interested."

"Well…" Rachel paused to yawn. She placed a hand to her chest and shook her head. "Excuse me."

"You seem tired."

**Good way to change the subject.**

"Oh it's nothing." Rachel said again another yawn taking over the end of her statement.

"My neighbor's dog, it's a cutey but it keeps me up half the night barking at the top of its lungs. So I haven't got a good amount of rest in the past few days."

"They don't take it inside?"

"Nope, they just keep the poor thing tied to the porch no matter the weather."

**I didn't really care; I've just never been that type of girl. But Rachel didn't have to know that.**

"That's horrible."

"I know." Rachel said shaking her head. "People have got to stop treating their dogs like pets and more like extensions of their families. Would they leave their grandmother tied to the porch all day?"

Quinn couldn't help but laugh at the image. Rachel paused and joined in with her rising out of her seat. She walked over to Quinn and sunk into her lap, wrapping her left arm around her neck for leverage. She took Quinn's hand and placed it onto her side, then shifted closer.

**I didn't know what to do. She was just in the freaking chair and now she was in my lap like I was fucking Santana Claus. By the look in her eyes she wanted a…different type of toy.**

"I don't look tired do I?" Rachel said as she kissed Quinn's chin softly and found her way to her neck.

**That's good…too good. Time to kill the mood.**

"Yeah you kind of do. You've got these things under your eyes."

Rachel popped out of her seat. "What?!"

"Yeah these…" Quinn pushed her cheeks down. "…things."

Rachel rushed to a mirror and started readjusting her face in different positions. "Oh my god, I do have bloats. God, I look like droopy."

**I just insulted one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen to get out of intimacy with her. Yep, certified loon.**

"I'll talk to him for you."

"You will?" Rachel said practically running back over to Quinn. She took her seat back on Quinn's lap.

**Damnit.**

"I'll swing by, and because it's me there won't be a grudge between you guys. It can remain nice and civil and I'll be the buffer."

Rachel moved a fleck of blonde out of Quinn's face and kissed her nose. "What did I do to deserve you?"

**I wasn't sure how to answer that. They had to be horrible, horrible things.**

"Come here." She said scooting the blonde's head forward to greet her lips. Before they could connect, Rachel's doorbell rang.

**Saved by the Bell.**

Rachel rolled her eyes and got up from her very comfortable seat to see who had just come to the door. Brittany Pearce barreled through and bear hugged her, lifting her slightly off the ground. Rachel giggled and Quinn went back to her rapidly cooling coffee.

"Oh, please do stay seated." Brittany said walking towards Quinn.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I was in the presence of royalty." Quinn fired back with a smirk. "By the way you're missing something…"

Brittany patted her gear; sure she had everything she needed this morning. Quinn leaned to the side a bit to look at Brittany's backside. "Definitely missing something."

"Well, what is it?" Brittany said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Charlie's head…it's mysteriously vanished from your ass."

"Asshat." Brittany said as she ruffled Quinn's hair roughly.

Rachel laughed and went to the kitchen pouring Brittany a cup of coffee, making sure to add three sugars. She set the coffee in front of Brittany then took a seat.

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Brittany said devilishly.

"Not all." Quinn stated quickly.

"You can say that again." Rachel mumbled.

Brittany bit her lip at the awkward sexual frustration pouring off of Rachel and decided to change the subject. "So…Charlie's got a…"

"How did I know she was going to pop up in conversation?"

Rachel shushed Quinn and Brittany continued. "Anyway, Charlie's got a few pieces into a small exhibit and she's invited us all to come see it."

**And there goes my evening. **

"What is it? Is it formal? Should I wear a gown? Heels? Or is it laid back...should I look kind of earthy or..? Hair up, down?"

"Rachel." Brittany said ending her rant. "Just come in your clothing, it isn't super formal it's going to be really chill and laid back."

"I'm in!"

Rachel and Brittany chattered on and on about the art show and then both stopped abruptly turning to Quinn.

"You are coming right?" They said in unison, drowning Quinn in a sea of brown and blue.

**Look at them, could I really say no to these two?**

"Nope." Quinn stated flatly.

Brittany groaned. "Oh c'mon Quinn, we always go with you when you do…whatever it is that you do!"

"I don't do anything, and if I did I certainly wouldn't force either one of you to go."

**Then I'd probably have to kill you.**

"So hanging out with me and Charlie is a chore now?"

"Yep."

"Quinn."

**I am not looking up at her.**

"Quinn."

**Nope.**

"Babe." Rachel said dragging the word out a bit.

**Not going to happen.**

Quinn looked up slowly and focused her eyes completely on Rachel.

"Be supportive, and it will be fun. I promise."

"Yeah babe…be supportive." Britney said mockingly.

Quinn squinted at her and turned to Rachel. "Of course I'll go for you two…"

Brittany's face darkened a bit.

**Oh, for fucks sake.**

"…and Charlie."

"Good, because she's really wanting you to come Quinn. She likes you. And you're my best friend so it's only fitting you get to know my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend you say?" Rachel

"Yes, we kind of decided on it last night over dinner."

"Isn't that a bit soon?"

They both shot a look at her that let her know she had better back off. So she did. Quinn put her hands up in surrender and returned her mug to the kitchen sink. She put a bit of dishwashing liquid in it and began to clean it out.

**Another night wasted with Charlie and the gang when I could be working on my collection. I didn't exactly lie to her when I said it was a hobby of mine. I was a collector. Of blood. My slides were priceless antiques to me; often I sat with them in the quiet of my apartment. I admired them, reveled in their history. Each one had its own story to tell. **

_-Lucy-_

After spending most of the day with Rachel and watching her try on outfit after outfit for the exhibit, Quinn finally made her way back home. She sighed when she clicked the lock. She stopped and listened for a moment.

**Silence.**

Quinn grinned and placed her bag on the couch. She walked over to her cooling unit and removed the face, safely withdrawing her wooden box. She took a seat behind her small desk in the living room behind her computer and ran her hand along its smooth edges.

**It always felt like the first time with this box. I never wanted to rush it; I liked to take things slowly with it. I liked to take in all of it, the entire experience. From open to close. Every time.**

She slid the box back slowly and her hazel eyes shone as they fell on the first slide in the very first row. Her first kill. She ran her hand along the very top of it and closed her eyes tightly. She could remember this kill the most vividly of all. It was more vivid then any memory she could ever recall.

She pulled the first slide up and held it in the light. It was aging; the blood almost resembled dried jam at this point. She brought it closer and slowly ran her index finger over the stain between the glass.

**I was so careful now. With everything. With my job, and Brittany, Rachel and my kills. All the pieces were always perfectly checked. Save for the serial killer leaving clues for me behind, everything was in perfect balance. Yes I dealt with being social, and learning to be more physically involved with those around me, but for the most part nothing ever slipped. The mask was never cracked, Lucy remained hidden and her blood lust, satisfied**.

Her mind wondered as she held the slide in hand. Of a time when she couldn't control the chaos and neither could her father.

_Lucy sat in her bed reading quietly in her own world. She often slipped into her room and sat in pleasant silence. She needed the seclusion after school and Brittany. She liked to crawl in bed and read until she fell asleep. This was her therapy, because her father wouldn't dare take her to a professional. They'd lock her up and throw away the key. She was in high-school at the time and had shed the chunk, but she was always the fidgety big girl, just under different skin._

_She flipped a page slowly, as she finished the page before when her father busted through the door, their kill knives in his hand._

"_What the fuck is this."_

_She immediately shrank. Her father rarely cursed in front of her. Come to think of it, he never had._

"_Answer me Lucy!"_

_She dropped her book and rose from the bed her limbs not knowing what to do. She didn't think he'd check them today. She was in such a rush, she didn't clean the blades. _

_He towered over her, backing her into the corner. His eyes wide, a tight frown secured on his face. His eyes were cold, like he was looking at their prey. She wanted to scream, 'it's me daddy' but her lips were sealed shut._

"_Answer me godamnit Lucy!"_

_She couldn't find any words. Nothing, only one thing came to her mind._

"_Mom." She squeaked. "She'll hear."_

"_She's gone to the store, and I thought I would go to the shed and sharpen up our tools while she was gone. But I found them covered in dried blood."_

_She stepped closer into the wall, any closer and she'd go through it._

"_How many times do I have to tell you, how dangerous it is to go hunting without me?!"_

"_I didn't…I didn't…"_

"_Do not lie to me Lucy Fabray!" He shouted holding the knives out to her. "What if someone saw you, chasing animals out in the wild like a…"_

_He stopped his face turning ashen. "G-g-god." His breaths were shallow as he clutched the knives to his chest. "Is it…is it human?"_

_She wanted to tell him no, but all she could do was whimper and plead with her eyes._

"_Is this human blood…dear god…did you kill a person." He surged forward. "Speak Lucy! Now!"_

"_N-n-no!" She shouted and regained composure. "No, I didn't fucking kill anyone okay."_

_He sighed and calmed himself. After a brief moment he realized the fear he struck into his child. He placed the tools on the floor and motioned for her to come to him. She leapt over and buried her face into his chest, feeling like a small child again tucked underneath him._

_He rubbed her back softly, until the sobs subsided. _

"_I'm sorry dad." Lucy said sniffling. "I just...I just needed to do it. I knew what the consequences would be and I did it. But I was careful daddy, just like you taught me. No one saw me."_

"_What was it?"_

"_The De'marks dog."_

_He wiped tears from her face and grinned. "I didn't care for that mutt much anyway."_

_It made Lucy smile and ease the tension of the next question he was about to ask. "Honey, do you ever think about…about…"_

"_Sometimes. Sometimes it's the teacher, or a classmate…or a stranger. It wasn't…" She paused and settled back to look into her father's eyes. "…it wasn't always there. But recently…the want, the desire…"_

"_For bigger prey." He finished and sighed. "For more blood."_

_She shook her head slightly and her face crumbled. "I'm a horrible person. I'm so sorry you are stuck with me."_

_He ducked to his knees in front of her and captured her face._

"_Listen to me Lucy; I am not stuck with you." She tried to look away but he steered her face back to his. "You were brought into my life for a reason and don't you ever apologize for it. But, you are out growing the small game I'm providing. You need more of a challenge, just like any growing adult."_

_He sighed. "But Lucy, you have to be careful. You have to be better than this." He said as he motioned to the bloody knives on the floor. "If we take this…" He paused to make certain his words were chosen carefully. "…to the next level mistakes like this won't mean a reprimand from your father Lucy. Mistakes like this mean our life…behind bars, or worse."_

_He swallowed thickly. "Are you prepared for these kinds of consequences Lucy?"_

_Reality had set in as her father spoke calmly to her. She was about to elevate her game. The moment she was waiting for._

"_Yes." She said, the shake gone from her voice. _

_Her father nodded sternly. "Alright then." He closed his eyes and when they opened; her father's eyes were had vanished. What replaced them were the eyes he had during the hunt, they were the eyes she saw move 12 steps ahead at every turn._

"_Lucy I'm going to bring you my cold case files, I want you to see them. To brace yourself for what you might be doing but most of all. I want you to harness what you feel into avenging those who were silenced forever. I want you to let the people who died speak through you."_

_She nodded as he spoke, hanging on his every word._

"_You are good sweetheart. We are going to use this…this force inside of you to cure this world of injustice. You will reach beyond the law, and I'm going to show you how."_

"_I'm ready. I want to do this."_

_Her father smiled and she noticed his gentle pupils had returned. "And I know you can but you must be careful, I can show you how to leave no paths but it's up to you to be certain not a trace is left behind. No messes, no mistakes."_

"_No messes, no mistakes." She repeated to affirm the statement._

"_Good girl." He rose from the ground and handed her the knives. "Now go wash these up before your mother gets home. And no more hunting without me, am I understood?"_

"_Yes dad."_

"_Look at me Lucy." His eyes matched the sincerity in his voice. "No more hunting without me, promise me…not until you are ready okay."_

"_I promise."_

"_And one more thing."_

"_Yes dad?"_

_He smiled. "Mind your language.'_

_She smiled back; her dad had just discussed the possibility of killing and then reprimanded her for cursing. It didn't matter; nothing else mattered at this point. Just the thought of taking on bigger prey…the hunt. It was all about the hunt._

_-Lucy-_

"Just look at her." Noah said tapping his pencil against his desk. "She looks like shit."

Quinn took all of her co-worker in. Her button down shirt was opened, the shirt beneath it soiled. Her hair was thick from non-washing and her desk was littered with fast food bags. Such a difference from the woman Quinn had met some years ago. She was polished from head to toe without a hair out of place. She turned as if she was still in the military, and even back then you could see a glimpse of fulfillment in her eyes. Now they were sunken and empty as she sat at her desk murmuring softly to herself.

"Lopez is going to kill us if she sees her like this."

Noah scoffed. "What am I supposed to do, give her a sponge bath? This is a police station not a retirement home."

**He had a point, and something told me I couldn't walk up to her and say she needed to clean herself up. I like as little attention as possible and Sue would just draw a crowd and create a scene. Sue didn't need any more attention; Noah and I were obviously staring. The rest of the department just hovered in corners speculating in passing. I didn't need this shit; this was my first day back in office.**

"It's this gang man, she's obsessed with it." Noah shook his head. "I think this informant meant a lot more to us then she's letting on."

"Possibly." Quinn said softly.

**More than likely she was. If there's a death in your family or someone close to you is harmed you are ordered to take time off. Sue was concealing their closeness to keep up on the case. But the emotional wear and tear was showing.**

Quinn's train of thought was broken by a wide eyed Brittany who strode towards them in panic.

"I'm fucked." She said sinking beside Noah and plopping her head on his shoulder. "I am soooo fucked!"

Quinn's brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"Yeah, what gives Britt?" Jacob said cocking his leg up on Noah desk to angle in front of Brittany. He reached down and placed his hand on her shoulder, near her breast and rubbed slowly in mock comfort.

She slapped it away and shot him the finger before collapsing on Noah's shoulder again. "Lopez and Schue want me in her office."

Noah laughed. "Yep, you're fucked."

"That's what I've been saying!" She looked up at Quinn teary eyed. "It was what I did isn't it?"

**She did tip me off over her superior. Clocked a crime scene with no official authority. She was probably fucked, but I had to make her think positively.**

"I mean it's only the lieutenant and the commander asking you to come in for a private meeting. Nothing but good can come from an isolated meeting with a woman who busts your ass at every turn." Jacob laughed and Brittany grunted in frustration.

"How could I be this stupid?!"

"Hey." Quinn interrupted taking Brittany's hand and forcing her to rise from her seat. "You are not stupid okay." She sighed. "Schue was showering you with compliments and you landed a huge lead for this serial killer okay, that doesn't say stupid to me. That says gutsy and smart Britt. So keep your head high, go in there, face the music and come out a better person no matter what."

"Okay." Brittany said gripping Quinn's supportive hand tighter. "Okay."

Jacobs head swiveled slightly in between theirs. "This is so touching but…are you guys going to make-out now…or…"

Noah stood and yanked him out of the way. "Down boy." He turned to Brittany. "Britt, you're my girl. You'll be fine; we got your back out here either way it goes."

"Thanks Noah." She calmed herself and turned sharply headed towards Lieutenant Lopez's office.

"5 bucks says she out on her ass in about 10 minutes." Jacob said sliding a 5 dollar bill out of his pocket.

Noah shrugged. And matched it. "You're on."

Quinn palmed her face.

**I was worried. Genuinely worried.**

_-Lucy-_

"I was wondering when you were going to actually come inside." Santana said as she typed away on her laptop. She closed it up and rested her hands on the top of it. "Have a seat."

Brittany sat slowly and swallowed deeply. "Where's…"

"Running late but he'll be here in a moment."

Silence filled the room.

"So…"

"No small talk blondy, let's not pretend we are the best of chums because we are alone in an office." She smirked. "I know how you and some of the others feel so let's just skip the bullshit."

"I don't…" Maybe it was the thought of being fired, maybe she was feeling brave. "…maybe…" She sighed. "…maybe we just got off on the wrong foot."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no. I like my idea better."

Silence again flooded the room until Schuester walked in, his briefcase in hand. Both women were about to stand but he waved for them to stay seated.

"Brittany Pierce." He grinned and reached out to take her hand, shaking it firmly. He stood in front of Santana's desk and leaned backwards, his arms folded across his chest.

"You know, your father and Quinn's were legends around here. Stories are still told about those two. Just god honest hard working folks." He shook his head slowly. "That hasn't been lost on you."

He paused to bring out a file and slapped it against his palm. "You have done it all Ms. Pierce. And you never asked for a handout because of your last name. You worked your way up which is why…"

"I know what I did was wrong…"

"Let me stop you there." He said wiping his hand over his mouth. "You made a judgment call, and it paid off. Most officers ignore that impulse…following procedure didn't get me where I am today." He pointed to his stomach. "This did Brittany."

He reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a badge and handed it to Brittany. "This badge doesn't mean you stop following your gut Brittany, but it gives you more authority to do so."

Brittany held up the badge and her eyes widened. It was a detective badge, with her name on it.

"Detective Pierce, use this badge to continue to do and bring good things to this force. And make me and your father proud."

She was speechless. All the long hours, all the eating crow all of it had finally paid off. She was just like her father. She was also her own woman. Detective Pierce. She liked the sound of that.

Before she knew it she was on her feet and wrapped around her commander, thanking him.

"I just want you to know that I'm going to do all that I can…"

"Detective." He said with a smile. "I know." He checked the time and gathered his things. "I'd love to stay but I'll be back for formal introductions to the squad later, congratulations Detective." He grabbed his belongings and was out the door leaving Brittany and Santana in the Lieutenant's office alone again.

Santana got up from her seat and put her hand out to the newly created Detective. Brittany looked at her hand and bypassed it wrapping the Lieutenant in a tight hug.

Santana stood in shock, and then relaxed into the embrace. They stood like that for a few moments, longer than either of them realized actually. Brittany's chin had found the crook of Santana's shoulder and the Lieutenants arms, her back.

"Thank you." Brittany said.

The words brought the Lieutenant out of Brittany's embrace.

"Don't thank me yet." Santana said backing off to adjust her suit coat. "This badge doesn't just mean more access, this badge means more responsibility." The Latina folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "This means you and me, were going to be working side by side. You can follow your guts all you want but know at the end of the day everything, and I mean everything, is filtered through me. Do you understand?"

Brittany clenched the badge tightly in her hands. She understood good and well what this badge meant. She knew that her job wasn't going to get easier, she embraced that fact. If only she could voice those words, instead of fidgeting under the Lieutenants gaze.

"This isn't a play thing and as shiny as it is, and given how easily you are probably distracted, you need more focus now more than ever. I won't have my detective's embarrassed, I won't have this department disgraced and I won't have my standing jeopardized. I keep a tight ship Pierce, one slip up and you'll be chained to that desk pushing paper until the world realizes Kim Kardashian has no talent and should be ostracized from society entirely. And that ain't ever going to happen. So heed my words…"

She caught Brittany eye's and spoke as honestly as she could. "Enjoy the success…but don't fuck it up."

Brittany didn't speak she simply nodded. The Lieutenant had a way of darkening her spirits. Somewhere in there she thought she might have detected some encouragement, but she wouldn't push the subject further.

"Is that all that you needed Lieutenant?" Brittany said trying to disguise the urgency to get out of the office.

"Dismissed." Santana stated and watched the blonde exit the room. She walked over to her office window and cracked the blinds. The blondes disposition had already brightened, her friends had gathered around her and she flashed the badge around with pride. Quinn and Noah had their arms draped around her neck and Santana watched the girl delight in her newest title.

She shook her head and couldn't help but smile. "Detective Pierce." She chuckled again. "Give em' hell kid."

_-Lucy-_

**I had a very good day so far. Brittany was over the moon about her promotion and of course our celebration was cut short with a call to Charlie. I had never seen her so invested in someone. Maybe it was good for her, maybe she needed some stability. But Charlie…something about her bothered me. And I'm not easily bothered.**

Quinn rolled past Rachel's home and stopped in front of her neighbors. It was a decently sized home, much like the design of Rachel's. The front lawn was kept well but you could see the backyard had been severely neglected. The gutters were loose and in the corner was a stack of soggy newspapers stacked as high a toddler. Quinn wondered over the fence and took a peek; she saw the poor dog panting.

**Poor fuckers probably dehydrated.**

She took a moment to look up and shield her eyes from the sun.

**Directly in the sun-light and not a water dish in sight.**

She shook her head and made her way over to the front porch. She raised her hand to knock but the door swung open before her knuckles could connect with wood.

"Whatever you're selling I ain't buying it." The man said as he leaned against the threshold.

Quinn nearly vomited. He had a low hanging belly and at first glance she though he had on a tank top, but realized it was a very botched tan-line. His neck was darker than the rest of his body and his nails were nearly black. What little hair he had left on his head was hidden by a greasy ball cap, the lid curled in tightly. He scratched his stomach and dug around in his belly button before flicking the lint behind him.

She placed on her widest grin and tried her best to remain unaffected by his appearance. "Hello sir, I'm your next door neighbor's friend and I just wanted to introduce myself…"

"More than friends, right"?" He said with a smirk. "Friends don't do the type of thing you guys do, do they?"

**He had been watching us.**

Quinn shook off the comment, deciding small talk wasn't going to be the best way to handle this one.

"Well, we are more than friends and my friend happened to notice your puppy back there makes quite a stir at night."

"Oh really?" He said unaffected. "Well, your friend should be over here speaking. You don't even have legal residence here."

"Listen." Quinn said putting up her hands in surrender. "I don't want a fuss; I'm just letting you know we'd appreciate it if you brought him inside."

"No." He straightened up. "He's fine where he is. Tell your friend to buy some ear plugs."

**I should kill him.**

She shook off the thought. Lucy did not need to make an appearance right now. She had learned to control herself. She had learned that killing was to be made with planning and reason. If she killed from passion, she was no better than the common thug.

"My friend is concerned for the well being of that animal, tell me when's the last time you took it for a walk, gave it water?"

"Listen, I don't need you hippy lesbos coming over here preaching your rights. I can do what I please because that's my dog and this is my property. I suggest you leave it before this escalates any further."

Quinn looked away and sighed. "I just…"

"You were just leaving, and tell your friend she needs to grow a pair and come talk to me not send her boyfriend to do it for her!" He slammed the door in Quinn's face, so hard it caused the hair in her face to fluff backwards from the force.

Quinn turned and walked over to her car, climbing inside. She sat behind the steering wheel and watched his house.

**I could kill him. I could hit him with a shot of M99 and cut that belly of his clean off his body. I could enter his domicile and show him how far cruelty could really go. I could dismember him slowly until he submitted to my every whim, until he told me everything I wanted to hear. And when he was finished I'd cut out his tongue and cauterize the bloody fucking stump between his teeth.**

She gripped the steering wheel tightly. She could do all of these things. But death had to have reason; she had learned that lesson some time ago.

"_I could have slashed his throat right there on those back steps." Lucy said as she removed her gloves in her father's truck. The two had just come from hunting her first victim. Jessie Kendrick. She ripped the file from the side of her father's truck and angrily turned through the pages._

"_Do you see what he did?!" She pointed to a picture of a young woman; her head was split completely down the middle. She thumbed through them faster creating a flip book of blood and gore._

"_He was right there, completed secluded and we let him go!" _

_Sure she was ready to avenge the murder, but what she wanted more than that was his blood on the edge of her knife._

_Her father suddenly screeched to a halt, leaving a cloud of smoke and pebbles as they swerved to the side of the dirt road._

"_You think he was alone?"_

"_Completely!"_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Wrong." He said calmly, turning to his daughter. "Did you see the shadow?"_

_She settled a bit. "Shadow?"_

"_The shadow, the one that kept shifting on the wall."_

"_Fireplace."_

"_You're right but anyone with eyes could see the smoke billowing from his chimney, there were two shadows Lucy. He had a girl inside. And it wasn't just the shadow; it was the smell of his home. He had cleaned the house Lucy and himself too. He had done a complete 360 from the disheveled low-life we have been hunting for weeks. You didn't notice any of that, did you?"_

_She grunted in frustration and looked out the window._

"_Its little things like that, that can get you in a world of trouble. We would have had a struggle, and what do struggles do."_

"_They make you careless." She said, unamused by his pop quiz._

"_And?"_

"_They leave tracks."_

"_Correct. You have got to learn how to head off the blood. There is more to this Lucy; you've got to see everything. Lose the tunnel vision…" He turned to her sternly. "…and the attitude young lady. You want to be a killer, than start acting like one."_

"_How can I when I haven't killed anything, it's been nearly a month on this guy!"_

"_We take as long as we need to…"_

"_But…"_

"_We take as long as we need to Lucy! It must be perfect. Do you know how hard it is to be perfect! It impossible Lucy, you have to do the impossible and you won't be able to achieve it slashing that knife around like a damn maniac!"_

_That was the first time he had called her anything close to crazy. She felt a sting under that icy exterior for the first time. She brushed it off with ease. _

_Russell realized his choice of words, and instantly regretted them._

"_Lucy, a hunter knows that the better your aim is the more likely you are to hit the target. Do not let the blood or your anger or any influence get in the way of what we are trying to achieve here."_

"_How do I...how do I shut it off."_

_Russell pondered for a moment and then took one of her hands. "Think of the most calming thing in your life at the moment Lucy. What distracts you from the blood?"_

_She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. The only thing she could think of right now was how many ways she could cut Jessie before he bled out. Then she thought of her favorite books, and Brittany picking her up for rides to the lake where they sat and talked. Well, Brittany talked, while they watched the sunset. _

_Suddenly the blood wasn't screaming at her. It was there, it was always there. But the longing was a dull throb and it was growing even fainter._

"_Did you find your peace?"_

_She opened her eyes and exhaled deeply. "Yes." She turned to her father. "I can remember the shadows now, candles…an off brand. Too much aftershave._

_Good." He pat her hand. "Good."_

Alone in her car she closed her eyes and practiced the method she had long ago mastered. All she saw was Rachel.

Her ringtone brought her out of her trance.

"Fabray…he…on my way."

_-Lucy-_

She arrived at the public swimming pool in no time, quickly grabbing her bag and heading to the entrance. Brittany was outside, finishing up her last days as a beat cop. She held the crowd back as usual, keeping the reporters from encroaching on official police business. Quinn breezed by her, she wanted to get to the scene as quickly as she could.

She followed the corridors until she reached the youth pool; it was there the victim had come to rest.

**Who needed an art gallery, culture was right in front of me. **

Suspended from the roof were marionette type strings that lead down to the body. The rigid form sat in a rocking chair in the middle of the drained pool. Quinn couldn't hear a word as she approached it. She saw a few pictures being snapped, Noah holding cloth over his nose because of the stench and Jacob eating a donut watching the others around him question his appetite. She was weightless, floating until she was right in front of it. It was a woman; her face was painted in the same manner of the doll head. She was bloated and fleshy, but this one was different. It smelled, horribly. She zoomed in closer until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

**I jumped. **_**I**_** jumped.**

"Jesus Quinn, if you get any closer you'd be in the things lap." Noah said bending beside her, his face recoiled from the smell. "She's a little ripe this one."

**A little was an understatement.**

"Why is she rotting?" Quinn wondered out loud.

"Because she's dead." Jacob said munching loudly on his donut as he approached. He scoffed his mouth showing his masticated food. "And you're the genius?"

The blonde rolled her eyes, and then focused back on the victim.

"Why is she so shiny…something's off about the skin."

After putting on a pair of gloves she dabbed at the corpse and examined the swab.

**A thin layer of something. This isn't flesh, it's some kind of mixture.**

Noah nearly fainted when she brought it inches from her nose.

"Quinn what the fuck!"

She ignored his outburst and sniffed deeper.

**Tempara. Artist used this method to preserve a mold. It has to be an egg and water solution, thus the smell. Brilliant. An aged twist. A subtle clue. His way of telling her he could be even more artistic, even more meticulous then before. But why the puppet, and why the rocking chair? More questions with little to no answers. He was expecting me to be smarter, how many steps behind was I in this game?**

Her eyes shifted and she noticed crossed strokes. She nudged Noah.

"These patterns are shifting…see the strokes here…" She pointed to chest. "Now look at the right arm."

Noah leaned closer his eyes nearly shut from the smell. "There's something under there. Jacob."

"Alright, alright." He finished off his donut and dusted his hands off. After putting on gloves he used his forensic skills to gently remove the viscous layer to expose a tattoo.

"This is good enough to get and ID on the vic." Noah stated. "I'm sure we can run it across the database."

"No need." Brittany said walking towards them. She plopped on a pair of gloves and gently stretched the skin. "I know this tattoo."

Jacob laughed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No newbs allowed. Don't you have a training class to attend Pierce."

"Don't be a douche Jacob." Noah said, trying to keep the cloth over his face.

Brittany smirked. "This coming from a guy whose numbers in his little black book all begin with 1-900."

"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you over how awesome I am!" Jacob stated running a hand through his thinning hair.

"Jacob why don't you –"

"¡Basta ya!"

The light chuckles in the room were silenced with a very familiar and equally terrifying voice. Brittany was frozen in place in fact, the entire room stood still as she made her way across the floor. She carefully made her way down the pool steps over to the victim. The echo of her heels clicking, emitting the only sound in the room.

Brittany had no business on scene, this close without officially being instated. She glanced at Quinn, pleading for a distraction but her friend was too captivated by the corpse. Santana was on her now, her eyes darting around the room. They settled on Brittany again. She had chosen her target.

"Pierce." She sidestepped her and looked at the tattoo. "What do you know about this tattoo?"

Quinn looked up finally completely shocked.

Did the good Lieutenant just ask for Brittany's help? Hell had officially frozen over.

"I can..." Brittany gathered herself. "I can call a contact of mine to get an ID I think…"

"Do you think, or do you know?" Santana questioned sternly.

"I know - I mean I do. I'll call her now."

Brittany hustled off and began calling her contacts while the Lieutenant looked over at Quinn.

"She's covered in some kind of mixture, more than likely an egg water combination for preservation." Lopez stated, without examining further.

**How'd she know that?**

"First off it smells like Jacob in here."

He sniffed his arm pit.

"And second, this crazy fuck fancies himself and artist. He's using different styles of painting techniques. First the rub for the face and now this tempara. But the marionette strings and the rocking chair, what does it all mean?" She said as she tapped her chin.

**Somebody's a lot smarter than I thought and paying way more attention as well. Had to be a reason why she moved up the ranks, other than a great ass and a silver tongue.**

"It's one of my girl's friends, she's sure of it. Edwina Both. Last seen getting in a GMC Yukon." Brittany said as she walked back closer to the crime.

"Did she go _both_ ways?" Jacob said with a chuckle.

Santana shot him an icy glare and then frowned. "Where's the manager?"

"Lieutenant we called him and had squad cars go to his place."

"Noah, I need his registration now."

"Already got his info." Noah padded through his touch screen and looked up at the Lieutenant. "06' Yukon!"

**My blood ran cold. No. My friend was not some dried up pool manager, not some hack who couldn't keep up the act. And then I saw it. A single drop of blood on the inside of the right thigh. I don't know what possessed me. I wasn't reaching for this blood to capture him. I was trying to clear away the evidence.**

"Quinn, whats that?" Noah said.

**Fuck.**

Her voice was small. "Blood, I found blood."

Santana sprang into action. "Jacob I want results on that blood. Don't fart, don't cough don't even breath until you are in that lab." She turned to Noah. "What's his name?"

"Lance, Lance Gosner."

Santana smiled as she called out to the room. "We need an APB on the The Artist, Lance Gosner."

**The Lieutenant had to be confidant. She had given him a name. The only reason she would give him a name is if she was about to go to the public. The blood, the easy connection with the hooker. Was he toying with us, with me? There was just no way he could be this sloppy. I was disappointed, the game might be over.**

_-Lucy-_

Quinn stood outside her vehicle waiting for her girl to exit her home. She was avoiding going inside, Rachel had been awfully frisky these past few days. Ever since they spoke in depth her kisses were plentiful and every time they were alone they ended up entangled for hours stalled at first base. Rachel's eyes always suggested a run for home.

**I was amazed at how she always seemed to take my breath away. She sauntered out of the house in this red number that exposed the perfect amount of skin. Her hair was curled a bit tighter, she looked like a 50's model, complete with smoky eyes and complete poise. The world was dark, and all I could see was her.**

Rachel walked to the car and put her arms around Quinn's neck. She delivered a soft, slow kiss and pulled back.

"You smell good." She said and wet her lips.

**Now I know what it felt like to be prey.**

"You look pretty as a picture."

She giggled and twirled just a bit tucking her bottom lip in for a moment. "Wouldn't you say sexy Ms. Fabray?"

Quinn smiled broadly, a bit embarrassed by Rachel's statement. Rachel pinched her cheeks.

"Awww." She let them go and kissed her girlfriend again. "I've never seen you blush before."

**I blushed?**

"Consider it the first and last time, come on we'll be late."

Quinn naturally opened the door, then hustled over to the driver side and got inside. They took off into the night and Rachel leaned over and immediately changed Quinn's radio station. When she did so the angle of her dress exposed her breast and Quinn looked over at them. She also noticed the dress had ridden up when Rachel stepped in and exposed toned, tanned beautiful legs.

"Quinn!"

Quinn screeched to a halt behind a truck at a stop sign, which caused the car behind her to honk furiously.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked her voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine I just…"

**Couldn't take my eyes off of every inch of your body.**

"…didn't see it coming."

After continuing on, Rachel leaned back in her seat singing along with some pop song on the radio.

**She looked more and more relaxed these days. I was happy that she was becoming her old self again but the terrifying thing was, I didn't know what her old self was. I had adapted to the quiet, timid, meek Rachel Berry. I was terrified that the new Rachel would soon lose interest in the old Quinn.**

She focused on the road and her face softened into a mixture of sadness and worry. It faded just as quickly as it had come.

**Whatever. Cover is cover. I'd just have to find a new one.**

"Did you talk to the guy next door Quinn?" Rachel asked shifting her attention to the driver.

**If by talk you mean fight the urge to kill him, yes.**

"I did but….oh look were here."

Despite dreading this whole exhibit idea she was relieved they had arrived. After they exited the vehicle and approached the building, Quinn of course surveyed her surroundings. It was a decently sized venue, with a small crowd. It was open and airy and everyone inside looked like they had came from an era outside their own. They finally got inside and Quinn grimaced when she heard the soft thud of techno pumping throughout the exhibit. People were chatting, schmoozing and more focused on each other than the actual displays.

On the walls, different patterns of modern paintings were hung: charcoal drawings, pencil drawings and oil paintings were on display. Most of them reflected daily activities and some of them different worlds filled with vivid imagination straight out of dreams.

"Rachel! Quinn!"

They both turned to see Brittany in a strapless black dress, Charlie beside her in slacks with a button down and a vest, her pink tinted hair pinned up with small wisps hanging in her face. Charlie hugged and kissed Rachel's cheek and Quinn stuck out her hand, not really wanting to participate in that type of greeting. Brittany hugged both her friends tightly.

"Detective Pierce!" Rachel said grinning broadly.

"Please." Charlie chuckled. "Don't start this one; she'll go on and on."

Brittany swatted her arm playfully. "I have not been talking about it a lot."

Charlie smirked. "So what's that in your purse?"

Brittany thought for a moment and opened her clutch, pulling out her badge. "You mean…this old thing." She flashed her badge at Rachel who jumped just a bit clapping.

"I am so proud of you!" Rachel said hugging her friend again.

"Thank you! I'm still in shock. Of course the Lieutenant still gave me hell anyway."

"You know I am so tired of hearing about the Lieutenant downing you, I mean what does she know."

"Well, bitch or not she is damn good at her job." Brittany said placing her badge back into her purse.

"I'm just saying Brittany…"

"…Well so am I." Brittany said a little edge of annoyance in her voice.

**Awkward. **

"How about some champagne guys." Rachel asked the group.

"C'mon Rach, let's go grab some." Brittany took Rachel's hand and they walked off in search of refreshments.

Quinn and Charlie stood awkwardly behind until Quinn cleared her throat.

"I'm going to go, check out the place." The blonde said already walking off into the gallery.

"I'll go help the girls with the drinks."

Quinn only caught the last part of her sentence. She didn't want to go through awkward small talk tonight. Of course she'd make it a point to in front of Brittany. Just to show her she was 'trying'. But if Brittany wasn't around she didn't have to pretend.

Quinn walked around looking at the art on display.

**It was decent enough work, but I had seen better. Amateurs. Modern art was so mindless sometimes. I could hear the wannabe intellectuals in the room, swooning over a red square on a white canvas, or a sculpture of an old man shrugging. I didn't hate the art; I just hated the pretentious fucks around it.**

She spotted a lone painting in the corner of the room least inhabited by people. It looked so strange and out of place. She couldn't see what exactly it was from a far but if it got her away from this now growing crowd, she'd swear it was the Mona Lisa. After some fancy foot work through the crowd she stood in front of the painting and cocked her head to the side.

In the painting a woman sat in a wooden rocking chair and gazed at a tiny blonde haired girl in her lap. Golden light brightens her face and left hand as well as the small blanket that covers the child. She wears a long black dress, and her black leather shoes are just visible beneath it. She appears relaxed; another blonde child sits with her legs folded by her feet, looking up at the older woman with a smile.

**The colors chosen made the paintings seem like a dream, a place that doesn't really exist. The scenery in it is calming; I closed my eyes and smelled the scent of the woman holding the child. I could hear the slow creak of the rocking chair, the rustle of foliage on the porch…**

"It's one of my favorites."

It took the blonde a moment to notice she was not alone. She saw Charlie's mouth moving but the world was still silent. Her mind was still on the painting; slowly her senses began to register again.

"Uh, yeah. It's…it's…"

**Familiar.**

"You know I don't begin with any thoughts of what I will draw. When I begin, I put colors and lines on the surface of the canvas. This helps me to begin without any pressure. With these lines and colors, I find myself discovering the figures I'm creating. So the painting takes time to be born. I like to look at it for a long time; it makes me tired but it gives me pleasure." Charlie said as she handed Quinn a flute of champagne.

Quinn took the glass and took a heavy swig, turning her focus from Charlie and back to the painting.

"I feel everything around me when I'm painting, hunger, war; I worry about the future and survival in general. This particular piece helped me express how I feel…like I'm not complete. Like theirs this void I fill to escape my abnormalities…painting this made me feel…"

"Human." Quinn said her back still to Charlie.

The pink haired girl stepped beside her. "Yeah."

They stood for a moment side by side in silence. Charlie sipped her champagne and turned slightly to Quinn.

"Tell me Quinn, what makes you feel…human?"

**The hunt. The kill. The blood.**

"Rachel." It was true to some degree. Rachel did make her remember her humanity more. "Then again, what's so great about being human?"

"Oh, lots of things."

"What the love for our fellow man." Quinn chuckled. "How about the betterment of mankind."

"Power." Charlie stated and caught Quinn's eyes. "I like the power we humans have. We can do whatever we want, say whatever we want. And all we have to do is create an image of ourselves, not truly who we are, but who would blend the easiest."

Charlie placed her hand on Quinn's shoulder and smiled. But there was something different behind it.

"Then trick the world into believing us."

"There you two are." Rachel walked over to Quinn and looped her arm into hers and Brittany did the same to Charlie. Charlie seemed tense and slightly annoyed by the interruption but she shook it off quickly.

"I've got some people I'd like you all to meet, follow me." Charlie led Rachel and Brittany away but Quinn stayed behind. She glanced at the painting one last time before trailing behind her group.

**Maybe Charlie and I had more in common than I thought.**

_-Lucy-_

**Rachel was talking a mile a minute about how much fun she had. I couldn't decide if this was liberated Rachel, or tipsy Rachel.**

"Can you believe how talented Charlie is?"

"She's a regular Picasso." Quinn said deadpan.

"We saw you guys over there talking, Brittany held me off so you two can 'bond'. How'd it go?"

"Strangely well." Quinn came to a halt near Rachel's curb. "She's okay."

"Well I'm glad she's growing on you because we decided we are going to throw Brittany a party in honor of her promotion to detective."

"Did I mention I'm busy on that night?"

Rachel laughed. "I haven't even told you the date."

"Booked solid." Quinn affirmed with a pretend calendar.

Rachel shifted across the seat and her hand slipped on the inside of Quinn's thigh. She griped the fabric of her pants and her voiced dropped seductively. "Want to come inside."

**I was honestly trying to avoid her eyes but they found mine. D****ark, round, sultry orbs, probing mine for something, I'm not sure what they were looking for. But if I kept looking into them any longer the clothes would melt off my body.**

Quinn broke the eye contact by planting a tender kiss to Rachel's forehead. Rachel shook her head slightly and covered her face for a moment.

"Yeah." She looked around slightly disappointed. Her focus shifted from being turned down subtly to the environment around her. "Do you hear that?!"

Quinn perked her ears and heard the very loud, deep barks and howls.

"I thought you talked to him Quinn?"

"I did."

"And?"

"He told me he wasn't going to have two hippy lesbians telling him how to keep his dog."

"He said that?!"

"Verbatim."

"Son of a bitch." Rachel said folding her arms across her chest.

**She looked furious. And it almost made me laugh.**

She went silent for a moment and turned slowly to Quinn, mischief pooling in her eyes.

"Let's steal it."

"You've officially lost it."

"No, were going to steal that dog and give it a better home."

Quinn reached over and placed a hand on her forehead. Rachel swatted it away. "I do not have a fever! We are going to steal…no…not steal, rescue that dog Quinn!"

"It's the sleep deprivation isn't it?"

Rachel grabbed Quinn's hand and smiled. "For me?"

**I couldn't say no. **

"Let's do some dog knapping."

Rachel squealed. "Okay, okay I've got some masks in the house."

They got out of the vehicle and slowly tipped into Rachel's home.

"He's not home." Rachel whispered as she pawed through her kitchen draws.

"Rachel." Quinn whispered.

"Yes babe?"

"Why are we whispering?"

"I don't know..." She whispered back. Her voice changed to its normal volume. "Found them!"

Quinn doubled over in laughter when she saw the masks Rachel had in her hands.

"Are those zoo-animals plates?"

Rachel sighed. "This all I have...leftovers from 'kids' day at the shelter." She turned them towards Quinn. "Got anything better?!"

**Yeah. M99. Gloves. And an array of knives.**

Quinn shrugged. "You got a point."

She handed a lion mask to Quinn and placed on the kitten mask. After they were set Rachel went into her very detailed plan.

"So we hop the back gate and woo the dog with your bacon…"

"What?!"

"Just a few pieces. Then his owner will come to the door and I will distract him with a little leg while you make off with the pooch."

"I thought you said he wasn't home?"

"Well you never know." Rachel said completely serious.

**My lady friend had quite the imagination. **

"We are doing this for all the right reasons Quinn. The winds of change are blowing, and we stand at the head of the revolution!" Rachel said earnestly.

Quinn tried to keep her face straight but ended up giggling into her hand. "I get it Rachel I do but…" She laughed again. "…I can't take you seriously with that mask on

Rachel grabbed the bacon and Quinn's hand and they stealthily made their way across the yard to the locked segment of gate.

"He locked it, that fucker!"

Quinn put a finger to her lips and Rachel slapped a hand over her mouth. Quinn pulled a pen from her pocket and broke it down to the small metal part. She used it to twist around in the lock until it finally broke free.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?"

Quinn paused for a moment. "Youtube."

They quietly walked over to the dog who barked even louder upon their approaching. Rachel fed him the bacon and stroked his head.

"You're a good boy aren't you?" He immediately fell in love with Rachel but when Quinn approached he bent and emitted a low, threatening growl.

"Easy boy." Quinn said her hands raised to show she meant no harm.

"Jesus Quinn, you'd think you were the devil or something."

**No comment.**

"You have to get him out Rachel; he isn't going to follow me anywhere."

Rachel unwrapped the chain from his neck and gently tugged him by the collar. "Come on sweety." The dog slowly began to comply with her as she eased him out the gate. Quinn followed them through and just when they cleared the gate, Rachel's neighbors backdoor swung open.

"Somebody out there!"

Rachel scooped up the dog and her and Quinn booked it to her vehicle. Quinn started the car and drove off into the night.

"Go Quinn! Go, go, go!" Rachel shouted her voice a mixture of fear and excitement.

**I took a moment to glance at her. She looked, alive. Her eyes were wide; her mouth was twisted upwards in a grin. She looked kind of wild. I liked it. I liked this new Rachel who stole dogs to take them to freedom, and to piss of her neglecting neighbor. **

When they were a safe distance from Rachel's, Quinn stopped on the side of the road. Both were breathing heavily, adrenaline rushing through their veins. Rachel placed the dog in the backseat, ripped off the mask and exited the vehicle, Quinn followed her lead.

Rachel cut around the front of her vehicle and met Quinn on the driver's side. Neither of them spoke as Rachel pinned her to the vehicle by her arms. She hovered inches above of her lips as they expelled heavy breaths, the passion between them stirred by a bit of danger.

The brunette pressed her lips onto Quinn's ferociously, removing her hands from Quinn's arms to grip her face as their lips moved in tandem. Quinn let out the softest moan as Rachel abandoned her lips in favor of her neck, leaving patches of heat wherever her mouth landed.

The shorter woman quickly moved back to Quinn's lips, parting her mouth slightly so their tongues could meet. It was Quinn who slowed the momentum by curling her fingers into Rachel's hair, pulling back slightly and capturing her lips over and over again. Rachel's hands made a slow decent to Quinn's hips as Quinn's arms slipped behind her neck.

They separated for a moment, eyes locked, lids lowered as they breathed heavily.

"Rachel." Quinn said her voice airy. "We…mmm"

Rachel didn't let her finish her sentence; she slipped her mouth back over hers and slid her tongue between her full parted lips. She kissed her with a hungry urgency, as if she could survive off the contact alone.

"Rachel." Quinn managed to get out between kisses. "Come on we have to…"

She felt a tug at her jeans and before she could prevent it, Rachel's hands were inside them. She took her middle finger and traveled the length of Quinn's vagina over her underwear.

**I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready to go this far. It was too soon, for me, for us. This kind of touching would make her assume that there was a next level. I didn't have a next level.**

"Rachel we…"

She nimbly slipped her hand past Quinn undergarments and found her clitoris. She moaned into Quinn's mouth when she felt her slickness. Rachel left a trail of kiss up toward Quinn's ear and lingered when she began to move her finger slowly up and down her pearl.

"Do you like this?" She said soft and hot into her ear.

**Move damnit. Say no. Say no.**

"Yes." Quinn moaned and bit her lip.

**Stupid.**

Rachel added a bit of pressure to her strokes as Quinn's body began to relax into her actions. "Do you want me to stop?"

**Yes.**

"No."

Her finger began to move in painfully slow circles around her, which caused Quinn's breath catch in her chest. She was trying to speak but all that came out were submissive whimpers that drove Rachel to increase the pressure and speed.

**Something was happening. I don't know what it was. It was a pressure. A heavenly pressure.**

Quinn purred as Rachel caressed her, brought her entire body to life with a few well placed touches. She felt Rachel's breath in her ear and closed her eyes tightly. She felt her hips began to buck into Rachel's touch.

"Fuck." She managed to expel. "Don't-don't stop." She shuddered. "Please."

Something in her tone drove Rachel to stroke her faster, their mouths clashing, and tongues dueling.

**The pressure began to rise and I had to pull away from Rachel for fear of biting her lip. I couldn't control my body anymore. **

Quinn's head lulled backwards and her mouth opened but words still didn't come out. Just nearly inaudible sounds. Rachel watched her, speed accelerating even quicker by the woman's reaction.

**Then it happened it was like an explosion of a thousand nerves. That pressure, that slow build engulfed my entire body. And as quickly as it began it ended. But another one came behind it, even more powerful then the last.**

Quinn shouted her lovers name and nearly collapsed onto the vehicle her body still convulsing. Rachel continued to rub her softly until her shuttering ended. Quinn bent slightly and kissed her until she removed her hands and helped her fasten her jeans again.

**I didn't know what to do next. Return the favor?**

She reached towards Rachel but the shorter woman grabbed her hand and kissed it. "You look like a deer in headlights." She looked deeply into Quinn's eyes and spoke. "When you're ready Quinn, k?"

She nodded slowly. "K."

The duo finally made their way to Quinn's. The dog came inside and laid down on the floor, its paws crossed under it. Its eyes never left Quinn. Quinn and Rachel went into her bedroom and crawled into bed exhausted. Rachel swiftly snuggled under Quinn tightly and smiled.

"You do realize this is the first time we've laid in bed together?"

Quinn shifted to look at the ceiling with Rachel under her arm.

**It dawned on me how close she was and how I didn't recoil at the thought of her so near. In my bed. In my apartment. This was Lucy's domain and I had brought her into it unknowingly. Where mysterious serial killers dropped by unannounced and blood slides staid neatly tucked out of sight. And I didn't care as much as I thought I would. I didn't mind her in my personal space.**

"Yeah." She smiled.

Rachel leaned over and pecked her cheek. "Night Quinn."

Quinn's eyes closed as she sunk into the warmth of her lover. "Night Rachel."

_-Lucy-_

**I was up before her. Watching her sleep as I sipped my morning coffee. I phoned ahead and told Noah I'd be in late and to cover for me. I was already dressed and showered for the day but I decided not to disturb Rachel. She looked so angelic in her sleep. **

Rachel rustled in her sleep and her tiny body nearly disappeared under the huge comforter.

**This was the first time we had laid together, the first time I had slept beside anyone. Something was shifting inside of me. This mixed with that car adventure had me thinking maybe I need to reel it in. Maybe I was beginning to get in too deep.**

Quinn sipped her coffee and heard the dog moving about in her living room.

**Thing never made as much as a whimper in the middle of the night. It was a good dog, but I wanted it out of here as soon as possible.**

She took another sip and stared out her bedroom window. That entire night of firsts had her thinking about one of the most important firsts of her life. Her first kill.

"_Are you sure you're ready for this Lucy?"_

_She was a killer, natural born, but there was still nervousness in the pit of her stomach. Like a kinder garden student on their first day of school, ready to bawl because she felt too alone in this. Until her father reached out and pat her shoulder._

"_Do you know how you're going to sedate him? Do you have enough? You didn't put too much did you, too much will kill him."_

"_Dad." She said looking away from him and down the way towards Jessie's. "I got it."_

_She darted away from her father and quietly climbed into the bed of Jessie's truck. She used the pad of her hand to open the large back windshield window of the truck and slipped inside closing it tightly behind her._

_She got into position and double checked her drugs and controlled her breathing. She couldn't help but feel her heart jump when she heard his front door slam. It tripled in its palpitations when she heard the rusty door swing open. He closed it with a loud clink and started up the car._

_She could take him now but decided against it, it was too soon. She had to make sure he didn't see it coming._

_He swung his arm backwards and reached for something in the backseat above where she lay on the floor of his truck. He kept reaching until he finally patted down lower and lower. He jerked backwards feeling a prick on his arm and raised it up looking in confusion at the needle protruding from his arm._

"_What the…" Was all he could manage before he passed out, his face jamming the horn. Her dad was over to them in an instant and pushed Jessie backwards. He opened the back door and pulled Quinn out._

"_You okay?"_

_She huffed trying to calm her breathing and spoke. "I'm fine."_

_She was still nervous from the first encounter but she was ready for the next step in the process. Her dad focused on Jessie grabbing him under the arms and dragging him to the ground. _

"_Grab the needle."_

_She did as she was told, then bent to lift Jessie's legs to help her father._

"_The cap Quinn?"_

_She looked at him puzzled. _

"_Where's the cap?"_

_She went back to the truck retrieved the cap and began to assist her father again. When they finally got him inside she spoke._

"_I wasn't thinking…"_

"_No need for a lecture, just remember what we talked about. Consequences Lucy, consequences." _

_They put him away and began hauling in their materials. They covered his home in plastic, everything, not an inch of furniture was exposed. Quinn strapped on some goggles and an apron and boot covers and waited for her father to finish as well. He watched her set up a picture of the victim and then he helped her strip and secure Jessie to the hospital gurney. _

_He laid out her kill knives and finished the rest of the prep. He walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders letting his kind wise eyes fall onto hers._

"_Remember to stay calm. Don't let the blood take over. He's going to be saying some pretty horrible things to you. Don't let him drive the blood lust."_

_She nodded and watched as her father stepped back and motioned for her to proceed. She moved closer to Jessie, and snapped the ammonia capsule under his nose. His senses came flooding back to him and she could tell by the glossiness of his eyes that he hadn't fully come to yet._

"_-the fuck." He said finishing his sentence from earlier. _

"_Jessie __Kendrick."_

"_Hey!Hey!" He struggled against his bindings. "You let me up right now you little bitch or..."_

"_Or what?" She said leaning over him, her icy eyes falling on his. "You going to kill me too?"_

_She walked over to the photograph gripped it and smeared it on his face." "Like her!?"_

_He used what little control over his neck her had to deflect the picture. "I don't even know what you're talking about."_

"_You're a monster." She said surprised at the tremble in her own voice. She looked over at her father. "How many times did you take her? I read the report, said you kept going even after she was long dead."_

"_I ain't no corpse fucker." He spat. "But I'll give it to you nice and hard little girly if you come loosen these binds."_

_Lucy brandished a knife from nowhere and aimed it at his throat. Before she could plunge it in her name was called and brought her back out of her rage._

"_Lucy!" Her father shouted. "You aren't doing this for you, not yet. This is for her."_

_She kept the knife at his throat and waited a few moments to remove it. _

_The man struggled even more. Struggling to see if the voice could assist. "Somebody here, help me. Please help!"_

"_You are pathetic. I can see why she turned you down. Why it angered you." _

"_She was a cock tease." He shifted. _

_She placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart beating. He was scared. She kept her hand a moment longer, practically hearing the blood flowing through his veins. "She could have had a life you know. She could have seen the world, made a difference. Her life's light snuffed so soon is an act of injustice."_

"_She was a coked up whore, okay. She wasn't going to make a change I just did what her momma couldn't afford to do at the clinic before she birthed her sorry ass." He grinned. "I killed her, that's right. No good coke whore turning me down? I'm not good enough!"_

_He sputtered reality setting in when Quinn disappeared from sight. _

"_You know you're one fucked up little girl huh'?! Going around taking people lives. You ain't the damn law! You ain't the…"_

_He trailed off when she returned her father's rubber handled Gerber tactical knife in hand. "I am the judge, the juror and the executioner. And tonight Jessie Kendricks, you…will…die." She lifted the knife above his stomach and was halted again by her father. This time her patience had run thin and the killer in her eyes was not missed when her father joined her. _

"_H-h-holy shit." Jessie shouted knowing he was inches from death. _

"_Lucy, every hunter takes a prize." He handed her a slide. "Gather yours."_

_Quinn reached over and drug the knife down his face as he yelled. She placed the tip of her knife on the slide and a drop of blood fell into place. Her father smashed the slide shut and handed it to her._

_She watched the over flow run from the edges and connect with her finger tips, making the print outline in red._

"_You are some sick motherfuckers!" He shouted. "How can you do this with your daughter?"_

_Russell turned his attention from his daughter and scowled his demeanor completely shifting. Even his voiced changed. "One more word out of you and I will snap your fucking neck."_

_His gentleness returned and he held out a box for Lucy to put her item in. He closed it tightly and turned, retreating to his observation point. "Complete the ritual."_

"_Look I'm, I'm sorry. I'd take it all back if I could. You gotta' believe me!"_

_And with that statement she knew she had done her part for the victim. Apart of her liked to think she could see from some dimension, her murderer reduced to a crying babe. But that time was over. Now it was her turn._

_She raised the knife above her head and stuck it three times quickly into his chest. He rattled at the rapid wounds and nearly cried out. She angled the knife and shoved upwards letting it lay beneath his skin. She found that tenting the skin created more of a flow. She turned to her father._

"_Go. Please."_

_He nodded and left the room. Left her with the half dead man, and now she was about to have her fun. She didn't want her father to watch her first time, after all._

_She walked over to their tools and pulled out two small daggers. She walked over to his left wrist and jammed one in and then the right and stepped back. He was a river at this point, currents of blood falling in viscous ribbons from his body. Finally she retrieved her prize machete and stood near his neck. He managed to turn away, moaned something about being sorry and then she lopped off his head. She was strong but she was still a child so she couldn't hack all the way through. Instead she made a pez machine of his neck._

_After she made the cut and jerked back the blade, the real show began. He was spurting blood from his wounds. She got closer and it was then that she fell in love. Truly and utterly in love. Just like in the romantic comedies, time stopped and sound faded. The entire world went dark but all she could see was the deep, dark red blood seeping out at her command._

_It was a deep, lasting, all-consuming sort of love; it was like nothing she had never felt before. She felt like with it she would never be alone again. Her heart soared high above the earth, free of all care. It made her knees weak and they nearly buckled had she not used his chest for leverage. _

_Her first kill. She'd never forget him, after all nobody forgets their first._

"Morning sleepy head." Quinn said moving over to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Rachel had finally stirred and stretched in the middle of the bed, sleep still evident in her face.

"Why did you let me sleep so late?" She said with a soft yawn.

"You needed a good night's rest."

"What about…"

"Already called, told them you weren't feeling well."

"You're so sweet." She smooched her cheek. "I'm going to go shower."

Once Rachel left the room Quinn made her bed and prepared her bag for the day. After a while Rachel returned in some of Quinn's jeans with the pant legs rolled up and an old t-shirt.

"What are we going to do about the dog?"

Quinn shrugged. "Pound?"

Rachel tucked her bottom lip in and her eyes grew wide.

"No." Quinn waved her hands. "Absolutely not."

"Just for while until I find it a home." Rachel pleaded.

**When am I ever going to learn how to tell her no?**

"One day Rachel Berry." She was nearly tackled to the bed and kissed soundly. Rachel straddled her lap and moved wisps of blonde from her beautiful lovers face. So…how do you feel about what I did…" She looked away and then back at Quinn. "…last night."

**Oh, I don't know. Uncomfortable. Vulnerable. **

"I felt…different…"

Rachel moved from her position and tucked her hair behind her ears looking slightly disappointed. "That's hardly a good response…"

**Think. Think. Think.**

"Let me finish." She sighed. "You made me feel different in a way I never thought possible. I want to do things…" She glanced away nervously. "…things with you…that I don't want to do with…that I've never wanted to do with anyone else. Rachel, being with you isn't a chore. It isn't something I have to do, I choose to. You're the only thing…"

**Besides the blood.**

"…that's ever done that to me. You make every day the first day of my life."

**And the academy award goes to. **

Rachel held her chest for a moment stunned by the words. "That was the most wonderful thing that anyone has ever said to me." She smiled. "But that's exactly how I feel about you Quinn, you see me. You were there when things were horrible and I couldn't be more happier to have you in my life."

Rachel began to tear up and Quinn got up and grabbed her hand. "Today is a good day, no blubbering, I'll meet you downstairs."

Rachel grabbed her keys and headed out and Quinn made sure she was gone before she walked over to the air conditioner and removed her slides.

**I was beginning to get scared. The lines between me using Rachel as cover and actually admitting that I may be…I didn't even want to think of that right now. I couldn't let her get in the way, she would never understand me. Not like the blood. Not like my first love.**

_-Lucy-_

Quinn sat inside her office, going over some blood splatter patterns for a current case. She was actually going to court in a few weeks to testify the evidence she had gathered. It was an open shut case, more than likely and justice would be served.

**I needed this time in my office alone. Normally I'd get a bit at home but with Rachel there and the doctor Phil moment this morning, I haven't had any time for me. For Lucy. **

Noah burst through her office door.

**So much for quiet time.**

"Come on Fabray, we have to roll."

"Whats going on?" She said putting her work away and grabbing her bag.

"Found a bloody stump over in Dade County. Lopez wants us at the scene asap."

She hustled her things together and rode with Noah to Dade County. Noah had tried to make small talk now and again but Quinn was fried. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, and it was physically demanding to actually care. Quinn and Noah approached the scene and passed by Jacob who had his sample bags and tools headed away from the scene.

"Crimes scenes that way." Noah said stuffing his hands in his pocket and nodding towards the scene.

"Yeah but the evidence needs to be tested now doesn't it?"

"Jacob, if I look up and see you at the scene again I'll pluck every inch of that jewfro off with tweezers!" Santana shouted at him in the distance.

Jacob jumped and nearly ran to his vehicle. They both approached the crime scene. Quinn hung back a bit because she all of sudden realized where she was standing.

Noah shook his head slowly. "A soccer field, really? Is anything sacred these days?"

**Normally I would reply with a witty comment but I was standing in the soccer field of my youth. At this very location, Brittany and I attempted team sport. While she excelled, I had plenty of time on the sidelines to read.**

Quinn left her moment of thought to focus on the bloody stump that sat on the small wooden bench on the sidelines of the field. A normally sized foot, just by looking at it she could tell they weren't looking for a female to match this limb with. It was a foot cut at the ankle. The toes blue and cold after being cut from the body it belonged to. The foot was dry and completely stiff from the amputation.

She cocked her head to the side in wonder. "The precision."

Noah and Santana did a double take.

She whistled and made a slash with her arm. "A perfect cut."

"Okaayyy…" Santana said in confusion. "…what can you tell me about it?"

Quinn cupped her chin and examined it further.

**This was a masterful cut, I had seen it only once before and that had been from The Artist himself.**

"Well, judging by how the blood is clotting it was removed from someone who was alive…and still is."

Noah grunted in frustration. "Bad enough we got some creep killing ladies now we have a weirdo whose dismembering people."

"Fuck." Santana nearly shouted. "So you think the rest of the body is still alive somewhere."

"Exactly, someone iced this foot." She reached out but didn't touch the limb as to not disturb the crime scene. "Look at the ankle." She pointed to a line right under the cut. "Someone stopped the circulation to end the blood flow, so whoever this is didn't bleed out."

Santana's phone rang. "Lieutenant Lopez and this better be fucking good."

She paced for a moment. "What!?" Her tone darkened. "Are you sure, you got those results back awfully quick." She sighed and ended the call.

"Well?" Noah questioned.

"Jacob has found out who this stump belongs to." She cursed and then sighed deeply. "Lance fucking Gosner. Matches the blood at the crime scene too."

"So Gosner isn't the Artist."

"Not unless the sick fuck cut off his own foot Noah." Santana threw her phone to the ground and grunted. "The creeps still on the loose and he's probably got Lance with him."

Quinn left the two detectives talking about the possibilities but she knew in her heart that the Artist lived.

**Still too many questions were left unanswered. Why the trouble of planting Gosner's blood at the crime scene? Why the bloody stump at the field where I used to play?**

She ran her hand through her hair and looked around. The cops were doing their usual dance, only this dance was just leading them in circles. If she couldn't figure it out, they sure as hell wouldn't.

**The Artist was hinting at something. True he had been dropping bits and pieces for me here and there, but this was really blatant. A very clear way of saying I know more about you then you think. Did he study my history? Could it be that the Artist and I had a much richer, deeper and intertwined past than I had anticipated? No matter what I had gotten one message in particular loud and clear. The Artist was not only interested in my present; he was now chipping away at my past.**

*Outro** - **White Zombie -"Real Solution #9"*


	5. For all we know (part 1)

Hey guys! This chapter will be in two parts because there were a few scenes I didn't want to cut and I didn't want to deliver a mile long chapter. The second part should be coming soon after the holidays because I'm on vacation : ). Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

Note: Lucy In the sky with diamonds may be about LSD or a sweet moment between father and son. Let's go with the latter. xD

__-Lucy-__

_A woman's voice is heard humming softly. Eye's open from her lap and look at her. She was angelic, her golden hair fluttering down like a makeshift mobile. Chubby fingers reached upwards and tried their best to twirl them into their grip._

_She grinned and two small creases at the corners of her eyes formed as she scooped her head to nibble softly at the child in her arms. She pulled backwards when she heard soft giggles then zoomed in closer._

"_Hi momma's baby." Her voice echoed as if it were traveling some far distance to be heard. "Momma's precious little baby girl." _

_It was then that her head turned and she spoke softly to someone to her right. Her attention snapped back to the child in her lap and it was then the sun caught her eyes. Gorgeous brown eyes exploded under the sudden lights, causing flecks of green to burst into view._

_Whatever drug her attention from the child caused it to begin to whimper and then shake with tears._

"_Oh no momma's girl." She bent down and smooched the wailing child and began to hum to soothe her. Her humming turned to softly spoken lyrics that still sounded stunning falling from her lips._

"_Picture yourself in a boat on a river. With tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly. A girl with kaleidoscope eyes..__." She sang and paused to let the child knows she had her full attention. _

_**Quinn turned over in her bed, beads of sweat forming on her brow.**_

"_Cellophane flowers of yellow and green, towering over your head__." _

_**Quinn gripped her sheets, churning desperately into her sheets.**_

"_Lucy in the sky with diamonds__."_

_The woman bent and kissed her again. "__Lucy in the sky with diamonds__." She laughed sweetly a breeze causing the stray wisps in her face to sway softly in the wind._

_**Quinn pulled, and then twisted covers up to her chin in her sleep to cover up from the sudden chill.**_

_She bent lowly to the child's ear and sing-songed softly. "__Lucy in the sky with diamonds."_

Quinn sat up rigidly in bed gripping the side of her head. She had that feeling of someone being close to her ear, and she could swear she heard the woman's voice from her dream lingering. She looked over at the clock by her bedside.

**3 am. The devil's witching hour. I had a strange tendency of waking up voluntarily or not at about that time sometimes. I guess it's rather fitting.**

She rubbed her face and drug her fingers through her hair letting her fingertips rest on her scalp.

**Well what the fuck was that. The dream was so vivid. More so then most. The wind, the embrace, the singing. What the fuck was going on with me? Charlie's portrait had found its way into my dream. But, why did it feel so strangely right? The woman in that portrait seemed so familiar, just like the woman in the dream.**

She shuffled out of bed and headed for the fridge. She grabbed a bottled water and took down half of it before she realized there was a dog baring its teeth at her in the corner. The dog's threat didn't stir her; she instead shook her head and cursed softly.

**Damnit, I forgot. My inability to say no had me anchored with a new roommate.**

She sighed and pulled some old Tupperware from her cabinet and poured the rest of her water bottle into it. She nudged it towards the dog who gave up its threatening stance to go lap at the water feverishly.

She bent beside the dog on the kitchen floor and spoke. "Alright dog, listen up. I don't like you and you sure as hell don't like me. But we do have something in common, sympathy from a chipper brunette."

She shifted on her heels. "Now you are here temporarily, meaning as soon as we find you a home, you'll be out of the door. So let's try to keep this thing amicable, before I decide to start a doggy slide collection."

The dog slowed its drinking and then rested on its hind legs looking at her.

Quinn sat down on her rear and crossed her legs, satisfied she had the dog's full attention.

"Here are our rules of engagement; there will be no more of this…." She waved he hands in the air. "…growling nonsense. I will feed you and walk you two times a day, and there will be absolutely no shitting or pissing on my floors. Are we clear?"

The dog barked and bared its teeth again but she continued to stare sternly until it backed away seemingly in understanding. She got up from the floor and dusted her hands on her pants. "I'm glad we had this talk so we both know, this isn't a friend's thing."

After her speech about the rules of the house she headed for her laptop. She sighed as she took her seat behind the small desk she got at a garage sale. It was old, and the left draw stuck sometimes but it was just that type of welcome well worn object that she loved to have in her apartment. You could see traces of that from the wooden blinds she kept and the antique brass faucet she installed in her bathroom. She flipped open her laptop and drummed her fingers along the old wood.

**It was amazing how much of a good deal you could get on a quality piece when you didn't buy brand new. Besides I had to keep a tight budget, my craft wasn't exactly cheap.**

She checked her e-mail.

**Nothing new. Just penis enhancement products and ways to reduce my credit. **

She quickly clicked delete but paused when her mouse hovered over a Family Tree Ad. Her brow furrowed.

**Why hadn't I thought of this before? Of course I wouldn't use some silly service but this dream and The Artist hinting at my past. Over the last few weeks I had been so swept up in Brittany's promotion and Rachel practicing her audition I haven't even thought about the clue that was dropped by my special friend. The limb at the field was a huge statement. The Artist was trying to show me something, reveal something to me about who I was, where I came from. And no one in the world needed answers more than me. My father…he was never very open about my past. He always said in time, but he died before he got the chance to let me know why I was like this. Why the blood had such a hold on me.**

She didn't like to think about his death. She didn't like to acknowledge that it made her throat thick and sometimes, sometimes, just barely she could feel the sting of tears begin to build. She cleared her throat and shook off the thought.

**I've never cried a day in my life. Not even for him.**

She deleted the e-mail and inadvertently opened another and a thousand pop-ups flooded her screen. She cursed and began to close them one by one.

**Strange how I could rid the world of murderers and degenerates but I couldn't for the life of me fight the evils of malware.**

She cursed again and had most of them cleared until she saw a bright pink and orange one with two women on it. There make-up was heavy and someone had gotten carried away with the photo shop. Their breasts were exposed as they sensually gazed into some sleaze-ball's lens, their tongues extended towards each other and touching at the tips.

She looked around furtively, and then peeked towards the kitchen to see if the dog was out and about. She entered the link on the pop-up and was hit with so many graphic images her eyes nearly popped out of the sockets. She clicked a few images carefully analyzing each one and then decided to press play on a video. Two women, a red head and a brunette were feverously kissing. They began to strip and then the red heads head slipped between her thighs.

**Wow.**

Quinn kept her eyes trained on the screen and then her head cocked to the side as the women began to display their more acrobatic sides.

**Whoa…**

They flipped.

**How the hell?**

She was knocked out of her daze with an all too familiar ring-tone.

**Rachel.**

Quinn got up from her seat and walked to her bedroom. She plopped down on her bed and rolled on her back before accepting the call.

"What are you doing up?" A half sleepy Rachel questioned.

Quinn laughed. "I should be asking you the same question." Her voice dipped into concern. "You're nervous aren't you?"

"No..." Rachel said trailing off. "…not at all. I mean this is just a show for a little community center and it's really not a big deal…"

**5…4...3…2…1…**

"…but then again it isn't Quinn! I mean this is pretty huge. These are actual auditions! There are going to be judges and competition. Certainly I'm a shoe in I mean, I'm good." She paused to curse silently. "I'm not trying to be arrogant but pretty much everyone has been saying I should audition and I'll get this role for sure…but…" Her voice shrank. "…what if I don't?"

She paused for air and was met by soft snoring sounds from the other end of the phone.

"Quinn Fabray are you asleep?!" The sleep had dropped from her own tone.

"No, not at all. Nonsense puts me to sleep." Quinn deadpanned. She quickly continued. "Rachel, listen to me you've got this, wanna' know why?"

"Why?" Rachel questioned softly.

"Because you're the shit."

Rachel burst into giggles on the other end. Quinn had to pull the phone from her ear a bit.

**Her laugh was cute. But it was very-very loud.**

When the laughter died down Quinn continued. "And you know you are you said it yourself. So you don't need anyone's approval, not mine or a judge. No matter what the outcome, you are going to walk in there the best and leave the best. Got it?"

"Got it." The brunette said from the other end.

**I could hear her smile through the phone. It was contagious even through technology.**

Quinn smiled, then got up from her bed and walked towards her living room. She forgot what she left playing to answer the call and was met by the loud and orgasmic moaning of lesbian sex.

"What's going on over there?" Rachel said her voice peaked with curiosity.

"N-n-nothing." Quinn said hustling to silence the machine.

"Are you watching porn?" Rachel said nearly giggling.

Quinn panicked and slapped at the keyboard trying to get the video to stop.

"Nothing-Just-Some-Stupid-Popup." She managed to get out in between smacks to the laptop.

She finally stopped the video and silence fell over her conversation and the apartment. She closed her eyes and braced for the ribbing.

"You should let it play."

**She was using that tone again. That tone that had me pinned up against a car begging her to touch me. And I couldn't see them but I knew with that voice came those dark lidded eyes. The ones that made me feel naked no matter how many layers of clothing I had on.**

"You should let it play." She said again and the words seemed to travel past the phone and send a chill up Quinn's spine.

**Almost like the blood.**

"And I…" She began. "…should come over and watch it with you." Then finished with a slight husk.

**The slow drag in her voice. The fact that I could hear her wet her lips through the phone. And all of this mixed with these images were making strange things happen and even stranger things come to mind. **

_**Rachel knocked twice on the door but half way through the second, the door was opened and she collided with Quinn. Quinn lifted her up and her legs wrapped instinctively around her waist and locked themselves around her at the ankle.**_

_**Quinn backed her against the wall and their lips met violently. Rachel hooked her arms around Quinn's neck and pressed her further against her. The blonde then used her hand to harshly turn and devour Rachel's neckline.**_

_**Rachel dropped her legs down and pushed Quinn backwards, her eyes trained on her as she pulled her top over her head. Quinn back peddled mimicking her actions. They crash into each other again at the center of her apartment until Quinn lifted her over her shoulder. She flung her bedroom door open and tossed the brunette to the bed. Rachel stripped until she was bare naked, her breast and ass bathed in moonlight.**_

_**She got up on her knees and pulled Quinn towards her by her belt loops. Quinn happily obliged her request to come closer and sank in between her bare legs kissing any part of her bare body that her lips could reach. Rachel moaned and begged and sighed until she gripped the sides of Quinn face and brought her lips to her mouth. Their tongues and lips met over and over again until Rachel pulled back out of breath.**_

_**She roughly brought her lips closely to Quinn's ear and licked the length of it before whispering. "Fuck me Quinn."**_

A loud bark stopped the dream in its track.

**Good boy.**

"This dog has been driving me crazy." She stated and it was then that she looked down and saw her phone free hand griping the side of her desk until her knuckles went completely white. She withdrew her hand and shook the edge from her tone.

"I thought he was supposed to have a home by now?"

"Umm…yeah…working on it."

**I could practically see her rolling her eyes through the phone.**

"How is our prisoner of war?" She asked surprisingly over their little encounter already.

Quinn closed her laptop and walked to her kitchen. She dug out two hotdogs and tossed them to the animal before playfully tussingly his fur while he ate. He was a border collie, mostly white all over with a dark black patch covering majority of its right eye and ear.

**He wasn't all that bad. And kind of cute. And a kick ass distraction. He deserved a treat.**

"Were getting by."

"Good." She paused. "Are you going to name it?"

"Absolutely not, it will be 'the dog' until we place it into the arms of some family who will love it and blah, blah, blah."

"I like Gabriel."

"He's a dog not an Angel."

"Dawson?"

"As in Creek?"

"Justin?"

"Step away from the 90's." She washed her hands in the sink and dried them on a kitchen towel. "And no names Rachel. Go to bed."

"Okay, okay. I'll see you later on. Oh, and don't forget we still have to get Britney's party together."

"Got it."

"Bye babe."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and placed it on the counter before running her hands through her hair and burying her face in her palms.

**What was that? Was that what I wanted to do? What was going on inside of my head these days? Things were getting out of whack and I needed to center.**

She lifted her face from her palms and stared blankly ahead. No emotion, no thoughts of dogs and Rachel and phantom women.

**I needed to kill.**

_-Lucy-_

*Theme music - The Constancy Part 2*

Intro:

Quinn walks from her apartment as if it was an ordinary day. She waves to her neighbor and continues down the steps of her apartment, her movements sliding into slow motion.

As she hits the streets a blood drop falls from the sky and plants itself firmly beside her on the pavement. She continues to walk as more of the viscous liquid pours from the sky. She causally bats some off of her brow as the city goers around her shield themselves from the rain. One man stalks past her, a newspaper over his head protecting him from the bloody downpour. As he passes Quinn she watches him walk away and then notices two children splashing about in the blood as if they were frolicking in normal rain water.

She looks to her right and a dog is briskly shaking off the blood, its velvet drops cascading in sprinkles off his coat.

No one seems to notice the red colored droplets but Quinn. She walks down the street a bit and extends a hand, letting the blood pool and drop from in between her fingertips. Others continue by her, finishing their daily routine but Quinn watches the blood collect in her palm then looks up, a satisfied grin sitting securely on her face.*

_-Lucy-_

4 - 'For All We Know'

Quinn readjusted her bag as she entered the Miami Metro police station. She took off her shades as she approached the reception area up front. She waived her badge for security purposes only and continued to walk pausing only to wave slightly. She passed by a few familiar faces and of course stopped for a little morning chit-chat. She spent a bit more time with one of the ladies in the evidence locker, who just had to show her the newest school photos she had ordered.

**It's gotten to the point where I've seen so many horrid school pictures of kids going through their 'weird-looking' phase if I saw another I would hunt down the masterminds behind those horribly lit pieces of…**

"Fabray." Noah had called her name from across the room. She walked towards him and he opened up a box of donuts in her direction.

**How cliché.**

She took one and ate a decent sized bite out and flipped through an open file on his desk. Inside, she found more pictures from the crime scene The Artist left. She picked one up and held it closer in her line of vision.

**Even when the bastard wasn't trying he was making masterpieces it seems. The bloody stump. The soccer field. A few sprigs of grass perfectly peaked and swaying in a stuffy breeze. It was all very minimalist. Very clean. From the cut of the bone to the very neat and trimmed edges. Even the grainy lens and an unsteady crime scene investigator's shaky hands couldn't ruin this. **

Noah noisily bit into another donut, talking with the half digested food stuffed to one corner of his mouth. "Haven't heard one peep from the fucker." He took another bite of his donut and placed it down on his desk. After dusting his hands off he propped his elbows up on his desk and nearly fell asleep.

Quinn placed the photo down and looked at her co-worker. He looked exhausted. His hair was heavy with grease and the lack of sleep was evident by the bags forming under his eyes.

"When is the last time you've gotten any sleep?" She asked finishing off her donut.

He sighed. "I got about a good three hours last night." He sat back up and drank some of the stale coffee sitting out on his desk. "I don't know, something about dead hookers and bloody stumps set out in the mid-day makes a guy question whether he should sleep or use that time to put an end to this fucking madness."

"We all need sleep." Quinn stated surveying the rest of the office.

**Though I once heard a saying that there was no rest for the wicked.**

"What are you looking for Fabray?" He asked rising from his seat and standing beside her, his hands shoved in the pocket of his slacks.

"There is a considerably less amount of crazy in this room." Her brown eyes shifted from corner to corner. "Where Sue?"

Noah thought for a moment and then quirked a brow. "Drunk, half dead and sometimes even possessed by the devil and that woman has never missed a day of work. So where did you see her last?"

"Me?' Quinn looked at Noah and sighed. "You were the one who was supposed to look out for her last."

Noah shook his head in disagreement and then pointed at Quinn, his other hand still resting in his pocket. "Oh no Fabray, you will not put this on me. I already got a serial killer and insomnia up my ass and you want to add a five foot five pissed off Latina up there. No way Fabray. My ass is at full capacity."

Quinn shrugged. "Okay…but what you just said sounded all types of wrong.."

Noah nudged her with his elbow and they both shared a laugh as Brittany, Schuester and The Lieutenant made their way out of Santana's office. They lined up, side by side, as Schuester calls everyone in attendance. Brittany did a little half wave at Noah and Quinn who returned the gesture. Once Schuester had everyone's attention he stepped forward and began to speak.

"I was starting out in this profession when people like Brittany's father were taking down some of the fiercest criminals these streets had. What people don't know is that it took a lot of long nights, a lot of time witnessing horrible things to see to it that the city of Miami could be a thing of beauty again." He paused to let his words sink in with the officers and detectives around him. "Every day we walk out that door, every day we bring in a criminal every day we do our jobs we are carrying on that legacy. For many of us this isn't a job or a lifestyle….it's a calling."

He walked over to Brittney and placed a hand on her shoulder, still half facing the crowd. "Today we welcome another Detective to our fold. She has been with us as an officer, she has went above and beyond her duty to get the job done and I couldn't be more proud to have her here at Miami Metro. So it is my honor to formally introduce to all of you, Detective Brittany S. Pierce." He stepped back and began to clap and the others around joined in. Quinn linked her index finger and her thumb and placed them in her mouth emitting a loud whistle for her best friend.

**I smiled as Brittany stepped forward in her slacks and neat fitting button down. Her hair was down; I always liked it when she wore it down. It framed her face beautifully. She looked amazing and…happy. No one deserved this more than she did. There was something in my chest, something that swelled within me. Pride. I was proud of her.**

"Finally." She said exhaling playfully and laughed as the room joined in with her. "What can I say? I've been a janitor and a prostitute so the natural progression is Detective I guess." She laughed again stepping back a little bit. "I've wanted this job since I was a little girl, I want to be the detective my father was and I want to handle this position just like he would, with hard work and a dedication to justice. Thank you."

She finished by officially clipping on her badge to another round of applause as Santana stepped forward.

"As much as I'd hate to put a damper on this feel good moment…" She placed one hand on her hip and pointed towards the briefing room. "…but I'm about to. We have another detective, which means we have more means to catch this killer and more resources to end the horrors this asshole has been committing." She turned to Brittany and nodded firmly before walking to the briefing room.

Brittany stood for a moment until Schuester gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and left the office. The other detectives and Quinn filed in one by one as the Lieutenant paced the floor. Her high heels gracefully falling in line with her sharp turns. She had pictures, notes and evidence plastered all over the walls. Her jaw was clenched and her hands had tightened into fists.

When everyone was seated she came to a sharp halt in front of them and scanned the room. She shot a glare at Noah and Quinn.

Noah and Quinn looked at each other and mouthed. 'Fuck'.

She turned her back to the room and pointed at her backside. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

Brittany smirked and raised an eyebrow. She tucked her bottom lip in and Quinn nudged her. She shrugged and continued to admire the view.

Jacob adjusted his glasses and raised his hand. "Proof that there is a god?"

She turned her head sharply to him. "Not now Jacob or I swear on everything that is good and holy I will kick your ass so hard you will have to unbutton your collar to take a shit!"

He lowered his hand as a nearby officer teased him for getting chewed out.

"Nobody? Okay well let me explain. This is my ass. While it may be the most perfectly toned derrière you've all laid your eyes on let me tell you why it isn't happy." She turned to the front and threw her hands up before pacing to the right side of the room, all the eyes in the room shifting to follow her movements.

"Let me list the number of things shoved up it shall we? The media, Schuester…yeah don't let the stupid vests fool you, and now they are talking about calling in the F.B.I." She paced to the other side of the room and stopped. "Listen to me and hear me loud and clear…" She cupped her hands around her mouth. "I do not want the fucking F.B.I. coming in and doing MY job." She lowered her hands and walked closer to the group in front of her. "If it comes to that I will have some fucking badges…old…" She peered at Brittany. "…and new."

Brittany clutched her badge on her chest as Santana stepped backwards.

"I don't need any more shit because right now, I've got so many god damn people up my ass, if I had a bowel movement Channel 36's entire crew would fall out."

**Why is everyone making ass references today?**

"¿Comprende?"

She sighed and walked back to the center of the room. "We are throwing everything we have at this one; we need to find Lance Gosner. He's still alive which means he can ID our perp. Finding him is top fucking priority. So get it the fuck done."

She turned her back to the room as everyone left the room. "Puckerman and Fabray keep your asses planted in those seats."

Brittany of course poked fun of them before exiting. Noah ran his hand over his face and rested it under his chin.

"Where's Sue?"

**Good question.**

Quinn spoke first. She wasn't afraid but appearances were everything. "We don't know."

Santana laughed. "You don't know." She whipped around to them but paused to calm herself. She took a seat and turned to face them, crossing her legs. "I know that was a request that called for going beyond your duty, but she hasn't been herself. And I thought you two, of all people in this department would understand that."

**Noah looked guilty. I could care less.**

"Lieutenant I was supposed to be keeping an eye out for her last and I kind of let her slip under my radar trying to focus on this case…" He looked at Santana his eyes filled with sincerity. "…I screwed up and I'll take care of it."

**I'm not fond of men. I'm not very fond of any sex honestly. But Noah was a good guy. One of those guys you could pour your heart out to and he wouldn't view you any differently the next day. He had officially made it on my tolerable list.**

"We'll take care of this…and in between cases I'll keep my eyes on this killer ordeal."

**Eyes, ears and anything else. I wanted to find him first.**

Santana got up from her seat and headed for the door. "As soon and as soon as you find her, call me. And….thank you." She left to go to her office as Noah and Quinn sat in silence.

"Did she just…"

"Don't speak on it Noah let's just savor humble Lieutenant while it lasts."

They looked over their shoulders to see her hollering at a few officers parlaying outside her office door.

Noah laughed. "Annnndddd there it goes. So, are we going Sue hunting today?"

"Yep." Quinn said as she stood up. She exited the room and headed for her office to gather her bag.

**As much as I would rather be hunting down The Artist or any one of the many criminals in Miami I had to find Sue and get the Lieutenant off my back. I needed to stay on her good side, the last thing I need is to be on a good cop's radar.**

_-Lucy-_

Noah drove his pick-up down the Miami streets headed for Sue's home off of Doral Street. In the passenger seat sat a stone faced Quinn behind them in the back seat Jacob eating the last of a kosher hotdog he picked up from a local vendor.

**The Sue hunting party had assembled and despite Jacobs protest we would not be referring to ourselves as the A team. I'm not sure how Jacob got tangled into all of this but he insisted his services would be invaluable. So far all he's done is try to catch glimpses of my cleavage in various car windows.**

After finishing his lunch he leaned forward looking from Noah to Quinn. "So are we all just going to pretend we didn't see what we saw this morning?"

Quinn's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the Lieutenants ass. Now I know what that guy was talking about in that song. That is a healthy bottom."

Noah laughed. "Quinn cover your ears…I have to agree with you there. Dat Ass."

"You guys are complete perverts. May I remind you that is the same ass that has us hunting down Sue Sylvester when we could be spending our time elsewhere?"

"I would follow that ass's orders right off the face of the Earth." Jacob clutched his chest. "Guys seriously, I'm in love."

Noah pulled over a few feet away from Sue's home. They all surveyed as much as they could from their position but saw no movement. No car was parked out front.

Jacob rubbed his hands together, giddy with excitement. "Stakeout! Whose up for a game of fuck, marry, kill Miami Metro style."

Quinn rolled her eyes and felt a vibration in her pocket. She whipped out her phone and immediately answered.

"Hey Rach-"

"It's getting closer and closer and…I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. I can't concentrate at work, one of the girls left the center and went back to her abusive ex…and to top it all off I'm still planning Brittany's party -"

**Shit. I forgot that was an actual thing.**

"You forgot didn't you?"

"No.." Quinn said her voice fading into guilt.

"You forgot! Quinn we have to get this thing together, have you invited the guys from work?"

"I certainly have…"

"…not! Quinn…"

"Babe take a couple of deep breaths okay. I know you're stressed because of the audition so don't worry about picking up the stuff for the party okay. Focus on your audition and I'll take care of the rest. Okay?"

"Okay." Her voice lightened. "I'm so sorry…I just needed to…"

"I understand. I'm kind of in the middle of some work but I'll see you later when you nail that audition."

"Okay. Tell everyone I said hi."

"Hi!" Jacob and Noah said in unison.

"Knock it off goofballs…bye Rachel."

She hung up the phone and the truck went silent until Jacob started making whipping noises from the backseat. Noah tried to contain his laughter but his giggle turned from a chuckle to side slapping laughter.

**Mental Note: Find a way to murder Jacob.**

"We aren't going to find anything out here; we have to try to go in."

Jacob laughed. "You mean go into the lair of the she-dragon. No fucking way. I'm staying in the truck."

"Pussy." Noah said opening his truck door. Quinn followed suite and the duo walked to her front door. Noah knocked twice and went to knock a third time when the door creaked open.

"Something's wrong." He said placing his hand on his gun holster. Quinn fell in line behind him as they entered Sue's home.

**It was just as I imagined it. Sue's furnishings were very minimal. Blinds that probably came with the house still hung up on the windows, one dish in the sink and on her kitchen table was a pile of files from work. She really meant that she was the job when she said it.**

Noah swiftly turned a corner and called out her name. When they got no response they entered her bedroom. Still no sign of Sue.

"Where the fuck is she?" Noah asked out loud.

They both heard rustling in the bathroom and silently made their way over to the door. They both stood on either side then Noah swung the door open. What they saw on the other side was a badly beaten Sue Sylvester. Her right eye was swollen and purple, her lip was busted and blood caked her blonde bangs. Noah rushed to her side and she batted him off, adjusting to lean her back against her tubs side panel.

"What happened to you?" Quinn said as she stepped a bit closer.

"None of your fucking business Carrie." She sputtered out.

"She's doped up." Noah said tossing a pill bottle at Quinn who caught it and read the label.

**Vicodin.**

Noah shook his head. "Who did this to you Sue." He sighed. "Did you try to go after that gang on your own Sue?"

"What do you care Puckerman, you don't know shit about the job. Some pussy footing man child coming in here trying to judge me and what I do! I do what I have to do! I do what you mother fuckers are afraid to do! I'm taking the law into my own fucking hands!"

**I could see the anger resonating off her. I could understand it to; I often took the law into my own hands for justice. I wouldn't comment on it, Noah wouldn't like my response.**

"You know what I have a problem with Sue, you getting the shit beat out of you or worse getting popped by one of those clowns. The La Luna's are a bunch of petty criminals but when you go up the ladder and start asking too many questions ON YOUR FUCKING OWN, this kind of crap happens. What if they didn't want to send a message Sue! What if they decided to exact their own vengeance?!"

Sue groggily tried to stand but sat back down quickly. "I was blindsided! It doesn't fucking matter anyway, what's done is done."

Noah stepped forward pointing his finger down at her on the ground. "I warned you Sue, but you just wouldn't listen."

"Oh I heard you loud and clear it's just a simple matter of me not caring about you or anyone else's opinion."

"Will the both of you please calm down?" Quinn said stepping in between them. She knelt beside Sue. "You need to go to the doctor; self medicating these wounds is a stupid call."

Sue's eyes caught hers and the older women's jaw tightened. "You think I buy that concern in your voice Fabray? You think the crap you pull has me fooled? Me? There's something about you that shouldn't be trusted so back the fuck up. Now!"

**I let Lucy slip for a moment. I let the cold glare glaze over. I quickly recovered. **

Quinn stood and raised both of her arms as she back peddled a few steps from Sue. Sue kept her eyes on her and then leaned back letting the drugs ease her pain.

"Both of you fuck off and mind your business."

"Fine." Noah crossed the room but turned back before leaving completely. "Let me tell you something Sue, you're a tough old broad and you're a damn good cop. But if you try to take on that gang alone it isn't going to end well. You know that, so stop being stubborn and use the power you were given instead of skulking around being a god damn vigilante." Noah stormed out and Quinn followed. As they exited Sue's home, Noah slammed the door and immediately went for his phone.

"Yeah…she's at home. She's beaten to a pulp and hopped up on pills. No, I'm not staying with her…I'm done being a baby sitter." He hung up the phone and continued to his vehicle. Once they were back inside he screeched off and down the street.

_-Lucy-_

**After the entire ordeal earlier with Sue it was a pleasant thought that I wouldn't have to be 'on' for just a few moments. I was coming to support Rachel of course, but also up in those stands I would have just a tiny pocket of reflection.**

After parking her car Quinn headed directly for the community centers doors. It was larger than the ones Quinn had to frequent to see Rachel's performances. She supposed it was the La Scala de Milán of the social serviced based buildings. She was surprised to see several performers scattered about corridor. She passed by a woman dressed in a silver leotard repeating 'Mickey and Minnie Mouse Moochin' M&M's In The Movies' in different keys. Another woman kept stretching her mouth in different directions and one of the men there kept changing his expressions every time he waved his hand over his face.

**I had seen a lot of nut jobs in my time and technically I was one of them but, nothing compares to people who have a love for the theatre. Nothing against them and whatever they enjoyed to do but…**

A woman grabbed her right leg and stretched it over the top of her head, blocking Quinn's path.

…**Is all this necessary?**

Quinn kept walking until she spotted her girlfriend talking to a very tall, handsome man in a tank top. Whatever he said must have been hysterical because she smiled broadly and tilted her head back with laughter.

**Well what the fuck was so funny?**

Quinn reached the two and Rachel nearly barreled her over. After their greeting she led Quinn by the hand over to Brody.

**I don't want to meet this guy. I don't want to meet this guy. I don't want to meet this…**

"Brody this is my girlfriend Quinn." She said nudging Quinn forward.

"Hi, I'm Brody Weston." He stated as he extended a hand.

**I took it. And for the life of me I can't understand why I gripped it so firmly.**

"Nice to meet you."

After a short pause they unclasped hands and Quinn stepped back to eye this guy. He was tall with striking blue eyes, perfectly quaffed hair and an almost statuesque physique.

**I didn't like the way he looked at Rachel.**

He smiled and pointed to the other side of the corridor. "Pretty over the top huh'?"

Rachel laughed. "Did anyone hear the M&M's lady?"

They both shared a laugh and Quinn's brow raised slightly when Rachel placed her hand on one of his arms while laughing again.

"As much as I'd love to stay and entertain you ladies I've got to prep. Break a leg out there Rachel." He gave a slight wave and then walked off down the hallway plugging headphones into his ears.

Rachel took both of Quinn's hands and squeezed them lightly. "I haven't been this nervous since we..." She cupped a hand over her mouth. "…stole that guy's dog."

Quinn smiled. "No more pep talks Rachel Berry. You've got way too much…" She paused to point to Rachel's heart. "…heart and love for this. This is your show."

She smiled and reached up slightly to give Quinn a quick kiss on the lips.

A woman stepped into the hallway and asked all participants to enter a small room as they awaited there on stage auditions. After one more quick kiss Rachel along with Brody walked into the room and out of sight. Quinn found the auditorium doors and took a seat on the balcony. Alone in the darkness she softly exhaled.

**It was something about being alone in the darkness that relaxed me. Some people liked a stiff drink, some people liked a bit of nicotine. Me, I liked to sit in complete darkness. Maybe it was because I felt it was natural to me. It was my companion. It helped me with my second shift. **

Quinn shifted in her seat as time elapsed.

**It had been nearly two hours of subpar opera and jazz hands. If I saw one more person in that Party City flapper dress costume I was going to go down there and bust some fucking skulls. **

After the latest performer gave a few humble bows, Rachel Berry appeared from behind the curtain. She adjusted the microphone to her height and smiled when a little bit of feedback kicked back from the microphone.

She sighed heavily then spoke.

"My name is Rachel Berry and I will be auditioning for the role of Roxy Hart. I'll be seeing 'On My Own from Les Misérables."

She turned to the left to queue the music and began.

**I had seen her perform this song a million times, maybe it was the stage. Maybe it was the way she held the small audience with her notes, the way she moved her hands that made you feel like you were walking the streets with Eponine and singing for Marius yourself. She was beautiful and perfect and I felt something for the second time within myself today. It wasn't pride…I think…I think that maybe it was…**

The judge's thunderous applause signified the ending of the song. Still she stood her hands wrapped gently around the microphone, her eyes closed. She grinned and opened them suddenly, taking a gracious bow. Quinn left the balcony and went to meet her in the hallway.

Rachel swung open the door and bypassed Brody to go jump into Quinn's arm and wrap her arms around her neck.

"Nailed it." She said and laughed as Quinn pulled backwards when Brody approached.

"That was…amazing." He said offering up a hug of his own to Rachel. "You guys heading out?"

"Yeah, Quinn's got an early day but...I don't have to stay to see you beat out these other guys do I?" Rachel said giving Brody another hug.

**What's with all the freakin' hugs today?**

"Oh by the way I'm throwing a party for a friend of mine, you should come."

"Really?" He asked and smiled. "I'd love to."

"Great, here's my number." She gave him one of her cards from work and closed his palms around it. "Shoot me a text and I'll give you the deets."

"Awesome, see you guys later."

Quinn and Rachel walked towards the exit hand in hand as they approached the exit Rachel turned to Quinn.

"You don't mind if I gave Brody my number right…I mean...you won't be…"

"Rachel, it's not a big deal. It's fine."

She smiled. "Good because I don't want you to think I'm…"

"It's fine." She reassured. "Now let's get something to eat...I'm starved."

**She didn't know emotions weren't my thing. Still I had mixed feelings about Brody. I didn't like the fact that he was hugging her and making her smile and laugh. But that wasn't jealousy…couldn't be.**

_-Lucy-_

Sue stared at her face in the mirror. She touched at her bruised eye and winced at the contact. She had found the strength to rinse the blood from her body. Her right shoulder was badly bruised as well and she could still see an entire footprint on her side. They had done a number on her but she hadn't given up the fight yet. She didn't care for false empathy from a half ass detective and the blood groupy. She didn't care for it and she certainly didn't need it. She pulled a shirt over her head and went to her kitchen. She checked the time and realized she wouldn't be making it in for another days work. She looked at the pile of files on her table and shook her head. So much to be done and she was too tired to do any of it. Her front door wrenched open and in walked Lieutenant Lopez. She didn't speak; she just marched through her home and went to her bath room. After spotting what she was after she walked back to the kitchen to see a less than amused Sue.

Santana held up the pill bottle. "Really? Are you trying to be the cliché grizzled hard nose cop because it just looks pathetic at this point."

Sue rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you actually showed up instead of sending your stooges over here! I have half a mind to…"

"That's right; you've got half a fucking mind. And what little you have left are going to be blown out of you head if you try to take on the La Luna's.

Sue nearly spat. "They must have told you this huh? You're going to take their word over mine?

"Uh…yeah Sue. I was your partner once remember. I know how your mind works and I had my own suspicions long before I sent Fabray and Puckerman over here." The Latina said crossing over closer to Sue. "So you dopping up or what?"

"This is a joke right?!Do you see the state I'm in? This isn't a casual thing Lopez, I'm hurting over here."

"We both know well and good where this route takes you Sue." She jiggled the pill bottle and shook her head. "You think I like being here…" She slammed the pill bottle down on the kitchen table. "...doing this? The Sue I know wouldn't be in here pill popping and feeling sorry for herself, she'd be at work doing the job she's dedicated her life too."

"Don't you dare imply that I haven't been doing my job when I've held that entire department on my shoulders for years. You included!" Sue shrugged. "You know back before when you were a green behind the ears little beat cop and not Lieutenant Lopez."

Santana sighed. "I'm not here to throw my position around; I never have and never will do that to you. You taught me everything I know, you groomed me to become the investigator that I am today. That's why I'm here…out of respect." Santana folded her arms over her chest. "Because if you were anyone else I'd have your fucking gun and badge. Seriously Sue? You're a vigilante now? No protocol? No backup? You've lost your god damn mind and I'm here to tell you, you had better find that shit!"

"That an order Lieutenant?" Sue said her tone drenched in ice.

Santana softened. "You and I both know when an informant decides to play ball that there are risks. We explicitly state.."

"Oh don't give me that bullshit Santana!" The older blonde said slamming her fists on the table in front of her. "She wasn't doing this for a payoff; she was doing this so other young girls wouldn't be swept up into that piece of shit posse. She was clean and sober and fighting for a better life! And I..." Sue sat down at the table and placed her face in her palms. "…I failed her Lopez." She muttered her voice strained with emotion. "I fucking failed her. I convinced her to let her guard down and she was murdered. In cold fucking blood. In a house she was going to start over in."

Santana walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. She pulled Sue's hands down and placed the cool bag on her bruised eye. Sue used one of her hands to keep the bag in place once Santana moved her hand away.

"Sue. You did what you could do. You didn't just pluck her out of that shit, pump her for information and throw your hands up in the air. No, you took the time to make sure she was okay but shit happens. You had the best of intentions I know that and so does she. It's a dangerous game but she was willing to play. Her death isn't her fault or yours; it's the fucking La Luna's." Santana reached over and grabbed the bottle from the table. "And we are never going to catch the bastards responsible and take down that gang for good with your drooling at the mouth."

Santana walked over to Sue's sink and poured the pills down the drain and ran her garbage disposal. She reached inside her purse and tossed Sue a pill bottle.

"Motrin?" Sue questioned.

"Hey you want to be a badass, deal with the pain like a bad ass." Santana said laughing slightly after.

Sue managed a dry smirk and adjusted the bag over her eye. "I'll be back to work tomorrow."

"Uh, no you won't. You're taking the remainder of the week off to get your mind together. Cry, curse, do what you gotta' do. We have a killer to catch and I need you on your A game."

On her way to the door she paused to grip Sue's uninjured shoulder lightly to affirm she'd be okay. She walked towards the exit of Sue's home but paused. "I'm not the only one that notices the change in behavior Sue. Everyone is watching. So your shit Sue, get it together." She spoke her back still towards her. Outside her door her cell-phone rang.

"Lieutenant Lopez. Well if this day couldn't get any fucking worse. I'll be there in a moment."

_-Lucy-_

Quinn knelt beside the limb as Noah stood behind her talking to Brittany. A bit of a breeze kicked up and tossed a bit of Quinn's shaggy bang over the other side of her head. She held up her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

**It was the same thing from before. Clean and meticulous removal of the limb, iced down and set up at a park on the top of the slide Brittany and I used to play at when we were children. **

She got closer and zoomed in on the limb. It was a hand cut right below the wrist and posed with all of its fingers curled up except for an extended index finger half way bent in the air.

**The nails were manicured. The Artist had cleaned and tailored the limb before setting it up for display. It was that kind of attention to detail that made me swoon.**

Brittany knelt beside her and grimaced. "That's fucking disgusting Quinn."

Quinn masked her annoyance. "We can run test's on this thing but I'm pretty sure we know exactly where this came from."

"Jacob's running tests as we speak but I guarantee you this is the work of The Artist."

Brittany shook her head. "That poor man."

**I wanted to yell at them. Tell them that man's life would never have held as much importance as it had right now. I wanted them to see what I saw.**

"Well I'm glad everyone's having a quiet moment of reflection with the bloody stump."

Brittany stood and turned to the Lieutenant. "Lieutenant Lopez we were-"

"You were what? Gathering evidence? Questioning witnesses? Where's you recorder Brittany? For fucks sake, do you even have your badge showing?"

Brittany turned to the side and showed her the exposed badge on her hip. Santana turned away for a moment and laughed. "Tell you what Pierce how about you go hold perimeter with the fucking beat cops until you come prepared to do the job that was given to you."

"With all due respect…" Brittany started but paused to gather enough courage to continue. "…with all due respect I didn't take Detective to hold perimeter Lieutenant."

Noah's eyes went wide and even Quinn jerked away from the limb after the statement.

Santana stepped closer to her and cleared her throat. "With all due respect _Detective_, I just gave you an order. You see this job; the one Schuester gracefully bestowed upon you for breaking protocol is more than badges and authority."

She kept her eyes on Brittany while she spoke to Noah. "Noah what have you done since being on scene?"

"Tried to secure two witnesses, got a report from the park manager, e-mailed the documents to you to submit for a 24 hour lock down of the park , tried to find some kind of local surveillance, sent a few uniforms to talk to neighbors nearby in the community…"

She held up her hand to silence him. "Saying you are a detective and being a detective are two different things, so with all due respect you can hold fucking perimeter until you learn the difference between the two."

Brittany turned without a word and joined the uniforms holding the public back.

"Jesus Santana it was her first…"

Santana shot him a look that suggested she'd rather not further the discussion. She walked over to Quinn and motioned for Noah to come along side her.

"Gloves."

Noah handed Santana a pair and she placed them on walking closer to the side and looking at the angle. "Come here you two."

They joined her and looked at the stump.

"He's fucking taunting us." Santana said her teeth gritted.

**It was then I noticed the angling of the index finger, the position of the stump. The hand was forming a gesture. The Lieutenant thought it was a gesture suggesting that they all come closer, that they should all see what he had in store. But I don't think it was a gesture to the police department. It was a direct gesture to me. The Artist was motioning for me to look closer, to find him. I just had to find out how and I was positively certain now I had to begin by looking into my own past, as soon as possible.**

_-Lucy-_

Quinn sat in her office submerged in complete darkness. No one would know she was in unless they opened the door, and she had made sure that it was locked. The blinds were closed and the only thing visible was the small sliver of light from her laptop illuminating her eyes.

**After the crime scene debacle Santana sent us all our separate ways while she smoothed things over with the press. Now that I had a small window of opportunity I could get back to the mission at hand. Finding the Artist. I honestly always questioned my past but grew to be settled with what I did know. I never questioned my adoptive father, not even in death. Still it had always been a nagging question in the back of my mind. The question we ask ourselves from time to time when we are lost.**

She pulled up the state database log-in screen and let the cursor sit on the username field.

**Who am I?**

After a simple hack sequence she was in and browsing her files.

**I only had a small window of time. Hacking into a state databases was always a heavy risk. It would only be a matter of about two minutes before the monitors shifted the interface and blocked access. Then they'd try to trace. I had to be in and out, or risk exposure.**

She pulled up her information and tried to search for her birth certificate.

**Nothing on file? I have no birth certificate, how is that possible?**

With her brow furrowed she kept reading her log. She found that all the information dated back to only post-adoption.

**It's almost as if my life did not begin until I was adopted. No record of my mother. No record of my father.**

Searching further she found her adoption information. There was no record of where or who she was. Out of time and completely frustrated she exited the database and slammed her fist on her desk. She got up from her laptop and paced the room her eyes darting from one point to another.

**No past. Not even a glimpse of who I was or where I had come from. I was a blank slate and the only man that knew more was dead. Did my mother not even care what happened to me? Did she even take a moment to leave a trail for me to find her again? Did she ever want me to find her again?**

She paused mid-step to clear her mind.

**It was all too much. My head was at capacity. There was no more room to process. The Artist, Rachel, Brittany, my past…I needed to clear my mind.**

Recovering she sat back down at her desk and held her face in her palms. Her right eye focused on a file lying beside her. She stared it for a moment then snatched up the file and opened it.

**I know I had things to accomplish to further my connection with The Artist, but I needed a distraction from it all. The balance was tipping. And Lucy was being left out in the cold.**

She ran her finger along the file name her lip tucked in between her teeth.

Laurie Riojas was a two-year-old girl who was reported missing about 2 years ago in Orlando Florida. There was a gigantic media frenzy behind the disappearance. Her skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near her home. Her then 22-year-old mother, Ella Riojas, was tried for the first degree murder of Laurie but was acquitted. She was, however, convicted of misdemeanor counts of providing false information to police officers.

Quinn read further into the file. Her full attention on the papers in front of her.

It appeared Ella lived with her mother who testified but admitted to not seeing Ella for weeks. Ella also fabricated various stories, including telling detectives the child had been kidnapped by a fictitious African American male. She had even passed a lie detector test. Despite evidence such as charges for tape and shovels being found on her credit card reports, she still maintained the child was murdered by the man. With a high profiled lawyer looking to make a name for herself she was let off the hook for the murder of her child.

**It was infuriating. The entire legal process. I could see why Sue snapped and sought her own justice. It was all a pageant show now but this beauty queen…she was going to die. I would find the connection and when I did, no extent of the law could protect her from my wrath.**

After a bit more digging Quinn stumbled upon a report from a witness. The witness said the mother was last seen with the child in a green Sudan marked with Nevada plates 326-NEB. The mother denied the reports and upon investigation the police found she nor any of her relatives had any Nevada plated vehicles.

She closed the file on her desk and cupped her chin in thought.

**There had to be a connection. There had to be a link.**

Quinn then searched for the woman's last known whereabouts. She found that she was living in a small area just outside of Miami called Sweetwater.

**A couple of years had gone by; she had to be pretty comfortable with her freedom. Comfort and settling always brought about mistakes. It was that edge, that high-risk factor that kept criminals on their toes. I would use the time; use the idea of safety against her. And find a way to exact real justice. The justice that only I could deliver.**

_-Lucy-_

"Oh she's going to love that!" Rachel exclaimed as Charlie tried her best to lift and safely fit the cheese fondue fountain through the door. After a few more careful tugs it was through the door and set up on the table.

Rachel shifted it slightly and stepped back to see if it was angled properly. She walked back over to it again and shifted it before throwing her hands up in frustration. Charlie intervened before she could shift it again.

"Rachel, I think its fine where it's at for now."

Rachel sighed and then laughed slightly. "I know. I know I'm acting just a little spastic but I said I would put this all together thinking Quinn would be able to come by but she's bogged down with work."

The mention of Quinn caused Charlie to remove her glasses and clean the frames with her shirt.

"She's a pretty busy girl isn't she?"

Rachel turned her back to Charlie and motioned for her to help her move her couch at a different angle. "Tell me about it." Rachel spoke as she put her strength into moving the furniture. "Still, she always manages to squeeze in a bit of time for me." Rachel ended with a short shrug and a grin.

"Interesting line of work she's in…blood splatter. Pretty dark stuff." Charlie said her tone shifting slightly.

"I try not to think about it…it's all so…." She sighed. "…I don't know, I just don't know how she's able to stomach it."

After successfully moving the furniture the duo began setting up a few folding chairs for additional seating. As they moved about the room Charlie paused picking up a photo of Rachel, looking at it curiously. She placed it down and then glanced behind her. She saw the brunette struggling to get one of the chairs open and immediately came to her side.

"Here, let me." She opened it with ease and propped it open.

"Charlie I just really want to thank you for taking the time to help with all this."

Charlie smiled. "Don't mention it."

Rachel turned to the room and pointed to a small section of the room. "I think I'll set up the karaoke machine there since I can move my T.V. to that socket. But then again I need walking room, then the drink section needs to be over here and…"

"Rachel." Charlie said calmly. "Slow down. You've got plenty of time."

"I know it's just that Quinn said she'd be here early to setup the machine, I can't even begin to tell you how that thing works."

"Quinn, she normally works late?" Charlie asked, her eyes catching Rachel.

"Yeah…" Rachel said her focus still on the setup for the party.

"And…does she ever tell you where she is?" Charlie questioned further.

"Sometimes at the office…sometimes…" Rachel's brow creased. "She's kind of vague."

"Vague." Charlie said quickly repeating her. "What does she tell you about her life?" Charlie's tone had dropped to a deadly calm. One that made Rachel turn on her heels towards her.

"Not much…is this going somewhere?" She asked the crease in her brow deepening as she folded her arms across her chest.

"And you don't find it odd that she never tells you anything…never bothers to go into detail about her late night whereabouts..."

Rachel looked off deep into thought. Charlie began closing the distance in between them still questioning. "…never telling you why her hours are so late…or exactly why a blood splatter analyst has to dig so…" She smirked. "…deep."

Charlie was practically on her neck.

She laughed loudly and caused Rachel to nearly jump out of her skin. "But then again she does have a job that involves precision. Any tiny mistake could be…" She paused. "…dire." She nearly whispered.

After she finished she went back to propping the chairs open as Rachel stood in the middle of the floor. She looked over at Charlie and then went over to the sink. She looked out the small window her focus completely removed from the party.

"Rachel."

She jumped again and then turned to Charlie who had a warm smile on her face.

"Do you know anyone that would be able to set this machine up?"

Rachel still flustered tried to rack her mind to think of someone who could assist. "Well this guy…Brody he mentioned he knew a thing or two about setting up a stage for a performance…maybe he'd be willing to help, but I don't know…"

She picked up her phone and found his number. After a brief moment of thought she sent a text to him and got nearly an immediate response.

"He's in! He'll be over in just a moment, how cool is that. Besides, we sure could use another pair of hands, right?"

Charlie chuckled and clasped her hands together. "Oh, we most certainly could."

_-Lucy-_

**I had cleared out majority of my assignments and now the only task I had left was to slip out of the office without a trace.**

Quinn slowly bypassed Noah who was seated at his desk sipping coffee. He looked around the office and she froze in her steps. After a moment he returned to his work and she began walking again.

**Almost there.**

She ducked into the break room when she saw Brittany enter the building and walk over to Noah. The two seemed to enter into a heavy discussion that lead to Brittany sitting down, her shoulders slack, her posture suggesting defeat. Noah placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

**I hadn't spoken to Brittany since the tongue lashing she had received at the hands of the Lieutenant. She looked sad, genuinely sad. For a split second I thought I should walk over there and offer a few kind words.**

She shook her head and peeked around the corner again.

**Not this time. I couldn't be detoured. I had to keep the balance. Lucy needed her time.**

Dead seat on her task Quinn then saw Jacob appear. He walked into the break room but after a split second decisions decided to walk over to Noah and Brittany. He spoke briefly and whatever he said caused Brittany and Noah to laugh.

**As vile as Jacob could be, you could always count on him for a little bit of comedic relief.**

With majority of her associates distracted she had finally reached the door.

**Home free.**

As soon as she hit the doorway she bumped shoulders with someone. She looked down and then directly into the eyes of Lieutenant Lopez.

**Fuck.**

"Fabray where the hell are you headed to?"

"Down to the courthouse, I have to submit a new piece of evidence for an upcoming trial."

Santana pondered for a moment and then cocked her head to the side. "Funny, I hadn't heard of any new evidence being submitted for any cases."

**Change the fucking subject. What would get her easily distracted?**

"It isn't exactly new, just some more useful observations besides…lending a helping hand for Brittany's party."

"Brittany's having a party?" Santana smirked. "No invite…" She placed her hand on her chest feigning hurt feelings. "I'm crushed."

Her interaction with the Lieutenant must have caught her co-workers eyes because Brittany and Jacob were now standing at her side.

**How can I get out the door while keeping them both distracted.**

She shifted to Brittany. "Yeah Brittany, I was just telling the Lieutenant she should drop by for the little shindig we were having tonight."

Brittany's face paled and her eyes went wide. "W-what are you talking about…" She peered at Quinn. "…Quinn…"

"She's talking about the party; you know the one were having in your honor tonight." Jacob said matter of factly.

**I could tell by Brittany's expression, if she and Jacob were anywhere else, he'd be missing a nut by now.**

"I'm not sure…"

"The party Pierce." Santana said playing into the blondes embarrassment. "The one _I just _heard about."

Quinn slowly backed away from the three, slowly inching towards the exit.

"Oh, that party. It's just going to be me and a few friends…"

"Try half the police department, there's going to be karaoke." Jacob stated a bit more excited than he should be.

Quinn had successfully made it past them all and was double stepping towards the door.

**Sorry Brittany. But what ware friends for.**

Santana placed her hands on her hips and shifted her full attention to Brittany. "Don't twist my arm Pierce, I'd love to come."

Brittany grinned to cover her frustration. "Oh…great! It starts at 8:30."

"And I'll be there." The Lieutenant said as she walked further into the office leaving a red-faced Brittany at the door.

As soon as the Lieutenant was out of sight Brittany turned to where she thought Quinn was but found her missing.

"Where the fuck did she go?"

Jacob shrugged.

Brittany rolled her eyes at Jacob and spun on her heels leaving Jacob standing at the door. She grabbed her phone and immediately dialed Quinn. Her call went straight to voicemail. Brittany sighed and decided to leave a message instead of calling again.

"Quinn Fabray. This is your best friend. I wanted you to know that as soon as I see you again, I'm going to punch you in the boob."

Outside Quinn whistled softly as she climbed inside her vehicle, once inside she placed her bag down and started her car.

**Then it hit me. I had a party to attend. Even if I was to find the evidence to put that evil bitch away tonight, when would I have the time to? Lucy was practically parched. The ritual hadn't been completed in days. If I decided to complete it tonight, I'd risk missing the party. The one I promised Rachel I'd support. I mean…I had to keep up appearances after all. But if I didn't get my fix I might end up losing control or doing something without the proper protocols in place.**

She palmed her face and cut off her car, then reached for her driver's side door.

**I could feel the tilt now more than ever. So much so that I…I had to delay the kill…again. But…she would be so disappointed if I couldn't make it.**

Her hand wrenched away from the door.

**No**.

She started the car again and pulled out of her parking space.

**Not this time. I've been to auditions, watched her practice, helped plan a party I could care less about….I've given her my undivided attention. Besides…**

She looked into her rear view mirror, her steely hazel eyes locked on her reflection.

…**I needed this.**

She pulled off into the Miami traffic and headed for the small town in search for evidence against the murderous mother. After a few twists and turns she saw a sign to her left. She read it as she passed.

**Welcome to Sweetwater.**


End file.
